A Case of Two Cities

nothing.” Dong made a pause before going on. “About the corruption in today’s society, I have been doing a lot of thinking too. China has made a ‘great achievement’ in the last ten years. An achievement Western economists cannot explain. But have you ever considered its possible relation to corruption?”
     
    “What do you mean, Director Dong?”
     
    “Corruption may have facilitated our economic development in a large way. It’s a paradox, isn’t it?”
     
    “I have not studied the issue. You are an authority on the new economic development.”
     
    “Well, I have just read about it in an essay,” Dong said, pulling out an English magazine from the shelf, which covered one side of the room. There were titles Chen had never seen before. Several bookmarks stuck out of pages, as if showing the owner’s knowledge. “According to the author, China’s success has been associated with an epidemic of corruption among local officials in charge of the economy. Why? The transformation of Party cadres from unproductive political entrepreneurs to productive economic entrepreneurs. But what pushed those cadres over the edge? A contradiction between the socialist system and the capitalist practice. The time-honored communist propaganda about Party members being selfless public servants of the people excludes explicit incentives and rewards for those cadres. Their incomes are still fixed and unrelated to their performance. Is that really fair? So some Party cadres see corruption as a sort of compensation, like in Western economies. That makes our fight against corruption much harder. . .”
     
    This talk was turning out to be harder than Chen had expected. Dong launched into new theories, as if forestalling Chen from taking a more authoritative position. Indeed, Dong was not merely higher in the Party rank, but also more experienced in delivering the “Party talk.” Chen decided to come to the point directly.
     
    “Your guess was correct. I am engaged in an anticorruption investigation. More specifically, an investigation of Xing Xing, and it’s directly under the Party Discipline Committee. I have some questions for you. Xing made several trips to Shanghai last year, and he met you a few times. Did he talk to you about his business activity here?”
     
    “Xing, I see. He wanted to invest in a state-run company in Shanghai. It’s a new phenomenon in the economic reform and he saw a possibility of becoming the largest shareholder of the company. So he discussed it with me a couple of times.”
     
    That made sense. Entrepreneurs were now allowed to buy into state companies. If Xing had been contemplating such, he would have come to Dong, an official as well as an expert on the subject.
     
    “What advice did you give him?”
     
    “I encouraged him to explore it further. Privatization will be ongoing. Of course, I did not know about his illegal business practices at the time.”
     
    As anticipated, Dong would not really talk. He kept parrying as in tai chi, giving no opportunity for Chen to break in. Chen played his trump card.
     
    “You are a well-known authority. It made sense for Xing to consult you from time to time,” Chen said, taking a deliberate sip of the tea. “Great tea. I’ve just heard something else about you, Director Dong. A coincidence, I would say. My mother is in her seventies, living in an attic. So I have been looking for an apartment for her. I happened to learn about your house in the Hongqiao area. Congratulations, Director Dong!”
     
    “Oh, that,” Dong said, staring at Chen. “What a hard time I had borrowing the money from my friends and relatives, you can hardly imagine.”
     
    “It’s not easy to borrow such a large sum, I know.” Chen might be able to discover something not so pleasant for Dong if the chief inspector were to push in that direction. Dong knew that.
     
    “I literally begged around,” Dong said, taking a drink of tea. “Let me tell you something, Chief Inspector Chen. When my nephew Junjun was a toddler, I used to buy him Coca-Cola. A luxurious treat then, and I became his favorite uncle. Now only in his mid-twenties, Junjun is a millionaire in the property market. My monthly income is like a bottle of Coca-Cola to him. But for his generous loan, I would have never dreamed of purchasing that house. Indeed, the world has been changing dramatically, as from the azure ocean to the mulberry field.”
     
    It might be partially true. Chen