Mainland tourists beat a path to the
bookstalls
Hong
Kong has turned into a hot spot for books banned in China, with best-selling
books digging up dirt on the Chinese Communist Party and eager mainlanders
smuggling them home in great numbers.
“I
first bought banned books from Hong Kong about seven to eight years ago, during
my first visit there,” says a Beijing based businessman and frequent flyer to
Hong Kong who preferred not to give his real name. “The airport has a wide
selection of such books, dozens of titles to choose from. Now with the upcoming
leadership change in China, there are many intriguing stories behind the
scene.”
Hong
Kong has a huge appetite for information on topics censored in the rest of
China and mainland Chinese often fly to Hong Kong to bring back their illegal
copies. The businessman, who prefers the pseudonym of Li, already owns a few
copies of the latest political best sellers. They include titles such as The
Jostling for Positions ahead of the 18th Congress and Princeling Clans and the
18th Congress.
Another
book banned by Chinese authorities is The Inside Stories of Wang Lijun versus
Bo Xilai, the biggest political story in China. Only a few weeks ago Bo was the
Communist Party leader in Chongqing city – when he used to sing this song with
the line, “there’s no New China if there’s no Communist Party.. Although the
scandal only occurred last month, already books are in print in Hong Kong
seeking to explain his ouster and apparent disgrace. News of the scandal, which
includes murky corruption allegations, are blocked on Chinese media, including
internet forums and microblogs.
“I am
more interested in the process and the stories behind it,” says Beijing
resident Ivy Ding, who bought a book from Hong Kong that claims to have
insights on the affair. “I would like to know more concrete details, not just
what the Chinese official media reported. Every time there’s a reshuffle at the
top political level, books that spill the beans are in abundance in Hong Kong.”
The
18th National Congress of the Communist Party is a watershed event as it will
determine China’s top leaders for the next decade and many of the banned books
reveal maneuvers by current leaders to put their trusted allies in their place.
In Hong
Kong bookstores, some shops even have special front-row displays called “Banned
in China” with numerous books on politics, sexuality and religion. There’s even
a store that specialises in books banned on the mainland.
“These
books are selling very well, especially this year, titles about the Congress
are a hit,” says bookstore attendant Chan, who says most buyers are mainland
Chinese.
One of
the biggest sellers in recent years was a book titled Prisoner of the State.
Published in 2009, it is the memoir of the former Chinese Premier Zhao Zhiyang,
who was sacked after the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989. The government
banned the book, but 14,000 copies were sold out in Hong Kong on its first day
of release.
Chan,
who also asked that her real name not be used, says the shops stay connected to
their mainland customers via a mobile network service. “Mainland customers can
get the latest updates on new arrivals and place their order via SMS and then
we ship them to mainland China.”
China’s
Constitution supports freedom of speech and the press, but it also says that
people must defend ‘the security, honour, and interests of the motherland’.
Anyone who publishes material deemed inflammatory or dangerous to state
security can be prosecuted.
As a
former British Colony, Hong Kong has retained considerable defences of free
speech after returning to Chinese rule in 1997. Businessman Li believes this
gives Hong Kong a unique ideological battleground for mainland politics.
“Certain
information and news items are deliberately leaked there to test reactions. It
is like an export that’s meant to be resold for domestic consumption. It’s a
way to test the water and influence the political climate in China,” he says.
Stiil,
bans make smuggling books to the mainland tricky, says avid reader Ivy Ding.
“If the
book cover is removable, I will take it off, or I will put on a different cover
to conceal it,” said Ding, explaining how he smuggles books across the border.
“Usually, if the quantity is small, it’s no real problem to just stuff them in
my hand luggage.”
Li,
however, says he was once stopped at the land-crossing between Hong Kong and
Shenzhen and ended up arguing with immigration officers about the books in his
luggage.
“I
said, ‘Why don’t you make public the list of banned books, so that I know what
not to buy? Show me the list and regulations, or else how do I know I have
violated the rules?’ But the officer remained silent. He wouldn’t or couldn’t
show me any list,” he recalls.
Immigration
confiscated several books and Li was asked me to remain in Shenzhen the
following day and the day after until further notice. While Li has never been
fined nor punished for buying the banned books, he says he now avoids buying in
bulk.
Lam Li
Asia
Sentinel
Business & Investment Opportunities
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