Customer Reviews

Bad Elements: Chinese Rebels from Los Angeles to Beijing

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The thread connecting the chapters in this book, several of which are adapted from Buruma's previously published writing, is the author's journey from free Los Angeles and thereabouts to unfree Beijing. At each stop along the way Buruma interviews dissidents or former dissents from Chinese societies. Their stories do seem to blend into each other after a hundred pages or so. There's the childhood of relative prosperity, the youthful recognition of a corrupt society, and the public expression of defiance, followed by arrest, imprisonment, and usually torture. The grisly repetition of fiendishly cruel punishments would be macabre if it weren't for Buruma's personal explanation for his curiosity: he wants to know if he and his generation in Europe could have borne such trials.

It is the personal element that makes this book as captivating as it is. We hear not only each dissident's words but also Buruma's reactions to them and sometimes arguments against them. His long experience in Asian affairs and understanding of Western and Asian societies make his thoughts as illuminating as the stories of the dissidents themselves. The book is not a travelogue but has elements of one. He meets old friends and strangers, eats new foods, and ruefully observes changes in urban landscapes. His brief descriptions of Singapore, Taipei, Hong Kong and other cities on his route capture them in their essence.

"Bad Elements" is informative, horrifying, inspirational, and even funny at times. Anyone with an interest in Chinese culture, Asian politics, or modern history will find it enlightening.

As with all of Buruma's other writing, this is a brilliant book, well-written and convincing. The strength of his writing lies in his appreciation of, and his craving for the intricacies and idiosyncracies that make up the Asian lifestyle. In this book, he gets down and dirty, even enduring the squalid conditions of rural Chinese life to live with a family whose Christian matriach runs an underground 'Church'.

My primary grouse with Bad Elements can perhaps be encapsulated in this very episode: I was very much looking forward to hear Buruma's views on the underground Church movement in China, and was expecting as much, but he chose to present the internal conflict within the above-mentioned matriach's family instead, whose children (like the Communist government) think that she's dabbling in the occult. Buruma loses the opportunity to discuss much of the issues he so tantalizingly mentions: an interview with a senior Chinese dissident falls through because the writer misses him as he passes quickly through the turnstiles of the Beijing underground, for instance.

This book strikes one as more of a work of travel writing, with plenty of pointed perspectives and unexpected opinions emerging from both the writer, the landscapes through which he passes and, of course, the people he meets. As such, this isn't quite as academic, nor does it provide as much in-depth historical/sociological research as some readers might expect. Another word of caution: while Buruma is mostly accurate in his descriptions, he does tend to neglect details - titles, place names, translations. Still, he does correctly observe that Lee Kuan Yew is, indeed, Senior Minister, the title he's held ever since stepping down from Prime Ministership. In Buruma's earlier The Missionary and the Libertine, Buruma actually makes the jarring mistake of addressing the man as Head Minister, a position which doesn't quite exist in Singapore.

Buruma's views are informative, but don't expect much objectivity here: he never shifts from his position that the CCP is 'morally bankrupt' (a phrase he uses a lot), and fails to provide balanced commentary of a wide array of issues, ranging from Tibet to the Tiananmen Massacre. Anyone or anything associated with the CCP is hence rendered malignant.

That said, Bad Elements is a great read. It will keep you up at night, just to get through all the details the writer so willingly provides! As complementary reads, I would suggest Ian Gitting's China Through the Sliding Door, a journalistic (if somewhat dry) account of reporting from China over the last 4 decades and Jan Wong's China, a witty work of non-fiction that manages to paint a sympathetic picture of the sufferings of the Chinese people under the CCP. Gitting's book is a masterpiece for its unapologetic objectivity and amazing detail.

For decision-makers in companies which are either doing business in China now or are planning to, this is a must read. Buruma examines various "bad elements" in China and elsewhere whose intransigence and (in several instances) corruption create serious barriers to communication and cooperation as well as to commerce with the western world. Viewed as a global market, the People's Republic of China offers business opportunities which are almost comprehensible. For those of us in democratic societies in which dissent is not only possible but protected by law, it is difficult to grasp the nature and extent of suppression of human rights which we so easily take for granted. Among dissenters, opinions vary as to the pace of reform by which to establish such rights. At one point in this brilliant book, Buruma discusses Dai Qing who can be described as a "go slow intellectual." She advocates patience and prudence, confident of eventual reforms. "One sees what she means, but the analysis is flawed. On the contrary, the raw emotions, the latent hysteria, the pent-up aggressions seething under the surface of Chinese life are the result of living a lie. As long as people speak cannot freely, nothing can be exposed to to the light of reason, and raw emotions will take over." Over the centuries, social reform in China has never been easy and often traumatic. After conducting interviews with several dozen "mavericks" and then reflecting upon what they have shared with him, Buruma seems skeptical that significant social reform can be achieved, given the opposition of various "bad elements." He may be right. There is also the possibility that one totalitarian dynasty will simply give way to another. In that event, to what extent will suppression of dissent be sustained? To what extent will such a new dynasty be more willing and able to accommodate new technologies, notably the Internet? Buruma asks these and other critically important questions. He and we await answers which will indeed have global implications: positive, negative, or more likely both.

Ian Buruma gives us a penetrating portrait of all kinds of modern Chinese rebels against authoritarianism ('A human being should have the right to choose his own destiny').
These dissidents represent 'the first principle of good governance: the freedom to be critical and in this respect, they are an example not just for China but for all of us.'

Among the most fascinating interviews are those with the Tiananmen rebels more than ten years after the bloody events. These dissidents are now more or less troubled men in exile, full of disillusion and desperation, even fleeing into religion, but still bickering with and criticizing their fellow travellers.
Although they showed enormous courage, the truth is that they were not really a threat for the regime. As Ian Buruma states rightly: 'The Communist government fears rebellious workers far more than students and intellectuals.'

This book contains a wealth of information on China and the Chinese Diaspora.
It contains painful interviews with victims of the Cultural Revolution who suffered horrifying tortures, as well as a harsh report on the Shenzhen zone and a correct evaluation of the Falun Gong movement.
The author sketches a terribly bleak picture of Singapore's dictator Lee Kuan Yew, who couldn't support the slightest criticism and who crushed even the mildest of his opponents.
He gives us also an excellent historical and actual portrait of Taiwan with the bloody Kuomintang invasion and the brutal dictatorship of Chiang Kai-shek.
One minus point: in his distinguished portrait of Tibet he fails to mention the fact that Tibetans were trained by the CIA as invasion troops for an attack on Mao's China.
With every report and interview, the author illuminates different aspects of the Chinese mentality (Confucianism, zige, xenophobia, self-loathing ...)

This book is a magisterial achievement and a must read for all those interested in the history of China.

1. Was there a topic at all here? So there are some Chinese dissidents in China. So now what? Will they make a difference? The book could have spent some space detailing (briefly) historical movements that resulted in something significant (The Boxer/ Taiping rebellion).

2. The author puts Singapore in a bad light because of its politicial conservatism, but he doesn't seem to notice that Singapore has been remarkably successful and richer than either Taiwan or Malaysia. Reading books from Lee Kwan Yew's perspective, we see a man who had something to get done (i.e., building something instead of revolution for its own sake) and did what was necessary to do it.

3. If the author wanted to portray the rebels in a positive light, then he should have been too smart to show us the neuroticism/ massive egos of the PRC protest leaders (i.e., these were some people who were looking for a conflict to put them in a position of power or protest for its own sake-- even if it meant sending someone else to get mowed down by the police). So, again, at what was he driving? What was he trying to show? People (such as Eric Hoffer) have noted that mass movements are interchangeable and there is ALWAYS someone looking for a position of leadership. Was that the author's point? That this same thing happened in China? I just don't know. And in any case, of all the mass movements that *have* happened in China, the result was the EXACT SAME (=exchanging one monarchy for another and centuries of making the same mistakes AGAIN and AGAIN). So now what?

4. The characterizations and descriptions of the characters/ locations were just way too much. They read like filler and are annoying. (Sorry, but if I wanted bloated characterizations, I'd pick up a Danielle Steele book.)

5. Again: This book could have given us some historical background (at the expense of the wordy characterizations) that showed precedent for the uprisings. After all, in China the past is the future and the future is the past. So what harm could have been done in showing us some things that had happened before?

6. The best point of this book was that it gave a simple account of the difference (on Taiwan) between the Mainlanders and the local Taiwanese-- and it made a distinction between the recent arrivals and the long term people. (And clearly showed how they DO NOT like each other.) It was interesting to learn that Chiang Kai Shek went on to set up the dictatorship on Taiwan that he would LIKE to have set up on the Mainland (if he didn't lose control of it). Other sources would have us believe that CKS was interested to make China in the mold of Western democracies (Jung Chang: Mao, the Unknown Story)--- but that is clearly not what happened. (Chinese people sure do like to live under dictatorships. They're a funny race, the Chinese.)

The other worthwhile point was that Taiwan only came under the PRC radar BECAUSE of the "Mainlanders" that went there after the loss of the civil war.

I am not an admirer of Ian Buruma's writing as a result of this book. He got to interview many prominent figures in Chinese diaspora politics but he never bothered to verify what he was told nor could he resist applying and referring to Japanese interpretations (his strongest suit) to his "analysis" of Chinese politics.