Don’t Cry, Tai Lake

all, there are a lot of things that Mi alone knows.”
    “So Fu’s quite young? He must have been promoted very quickly.”
    “Fu majored in economics. When he was still a college student, he published an article on the economic reform in the People’s Daily . This made him an instant celebrity, and he was named as a representative to the national Youth League conference. Upon graduation, he was assigned to work as an assistant to Liu. Because of his Youth League background, it didn’t take too long for him to be promoted.”
    “So he’s one of the ‘rocket cadres,’” Chen said, nodding. “A lot of young cadres are chosen from the Youth Leagues, they are the so-called young vanguard for the Party. Fu must have worked closely with Liu then.”
    “Liu wasn’t an easy one to work with or to share power with. I don’t know much about the politics among the executives at the company, but Fu seems to have remained an outsider. That was just my impression, of course. Luckily, he knew how to play second fiddle.”
    “But he plays first chair now.”
    “Yes. It was clever of him to promote Liu’s little secretary as gesture to the men and women in Liu’s camp.”
    “I think you’re right,” Chen said. “Now, on a different topic, tell me what you know about Jiang.”
    “Well, he got into trouble for the same reason I did—his environmental protection efforts,” she said, still without withdrawing her hand, “except that he pushed even harder. But as for what he’s been doing of late, I have no idea.”
    He noticed her emphasis on time with the phrase “of late.” That she didn’t know was probably true. Had there been anything of late between the them, Internal Security would have pounced on her and wouldn’t have let her go.
    “Jiang’s an ‘environmental activist.’ Anybody labeled as such can easily get into trouble, and not just him. Look at this dorm room. When I was first assigned to work here, Liu promised me an apartment. But as soon as I spoke out, the promised apartment vanished into thin air. It’s my fourth year here, and I’m still in the same dorm room.”
    “Have you had any contact with Jiang?” he asked, making the question sound casual.
    “We’re in the same field, so we would discuss problems that we had in common,” she said, without concealing a touch of hesitancy. “But I haven’t been in touch with him for quite a while. I did call him the day before yesterday because of something that I heard. He didn’t pick up and he didn’t call back.”
    “You have no idea what’s happened to him?”
    “No. What?”
    “He was taken into custody.”
    “Oh—like me?”
    “Yes, like you. And now they’re checking into the people close to him.”
    “They really are capable of anything,” she said, shaking her head. Her hair was still slightly wet and tangled. “I should have studied something different at school.”
    “No, that’s not true. It’s a critical subject area for today’s China.” He wondered if she was trying to steer the conversation away from Jiang for some reason. “But back to Jiang. Did he have an argument with Liu?”
    “I can’t imagine that. They might have met once or twice, but I don’t know of anything recent.”
    “According to Internal Security, he tried to blackmail Liu recently.”
    “No, that’s not possible,” she said.
    She didn’t elaborate. Nor was Chen in a good position to push her, having not yet revealed himself to be a cop.
    “Don’t call him again. At least, not before telling me first if you think you must,” he said instead. “I’ll keep you posted on the latest developments.”
    “Things are really serious, aren’t they?”
    “Yes, I think so.”
    “But do you know how serious the environmental crisis is for our country?” She went on heatedly, without waiting for a response: “The government talks a lot about the improvements in human rights. I don’t know much about that. But I do know that at the very least people should be able to breathe pure air, drink clean water, eat good food, and see the stars at night. These are the most basic human rights, aren’t they? But not in China. Let me give you an example. When the Beijing government called for a ten percent reduction in sulfur dioxide in China’s air, I was still in college. Now, five years later, sulfur dioxide pollution has increased twenty-five percent. As for water, well, you’ve seen the lake. And it’s not just Tai Lake, of course.