When Lam Wing-kee ran his bookstore in Hong Kong, it was filled with controversial and political titles banned in mainland China, and many of his customers were Chinese Communist Party officials.
Back then, for his work in the early years of Chinese President Xi Jinping's rule and before Lam's arrest, officials would often carry crates of books on CCP politics, Chinese economics and corruption across the border.
“CCP officials will look for books on what's happening in China, changes in top officials, who gets more power, changes in power and the struggle between them,” Lam tells the Guardian, often recommending officials. They buy books to know what is going on within their party.
“Some of my clients were high-ranking members of the CCP,” he said.
But today, such purchases are coming back to bite their buyers. Several recent corruption cases against CCP officials have included accusations of buying or reading banned material. Officials have so far received internal disciplinary action, including expulsion from the party, but observers are watching to see if criminal charges will follow.
In September, Li Bin, a former municipal-level official in Heilongjiang, was indicted for corruption and “personally read an illegal publication containing contents that undermine the Party's unity and solidarity,” according to state media. He was expelled from the party and his case was handed over to prosecutors.
In the same month, Cheng Shi, the former party secretary of Chongqing's Jiangjin District, was also expelled. Charges include “losing ideals and beliefs” after personally reading books and magazines “with serious political issues” while “out of the country”.
Henan official Yang Li was accused in August of “losing ideals and hopes and abandoning the original mission” when he violated “political morality and national laws,” including bringing banned books into the country, according to CCTV.
A recent report by the South China Morning Post said at least a dozen cases this year have been accused of reading or buying banned material, up from seven last year. They emphasize illegal reading over other crimes like bribery.
Wen-Di Chung, a non-resident fellow with the Atlantic Council's Global China Hub, said, “The urgency of punishments is due to new performance targets for party disciplinary officials tasked with punishing those deemed to have defamed the party's image, policies or principles.” Possessors of material capable of producing such an effect.
“The Chinese Communist Party always champions itself as 'great, glorious and perfect'. This image of infallibility should not be challenged as it will threaten the ruling legitimacy of the party,” he said.
None of the corruption cases publicly revealed which reading materials the fallen staffers had access to. But the list of banned topics published by China Digital Times offers some possibilities. This list includes writings on Chinese politics and history, including the Tiananmen Square massacre and the disastrous Mao-era policies that saw millions die from famine, violence and political purges. There are books that examine the politics and power of the modern CCP, or share the views of political opponents and critics such as Hong Kong president and activist Jimmy Lai, the exiled Tibetan Dalai Lama, and Xi Jinping's fallen political opponent Bo Xilai. The list includes Hillary Clinton's memoir, Machiavelli's The Prince and Hannah Arendt's The History of Totalitarianism.
Many banned books line the shelves of Lam's new store in downtown Taipei. Reopened and then fled to the Taiwanese capital in exile in 2020.
Xi's leadership is particularly notable for its purge of political rivals and its crackdown on sectarianism. Debate, criticism, even gossip have become more and more dangerous for those trying to live in politics.
As Xi's grip tightens, it will be interesting to see whether cases of illegal reading move beyond party disciplinary measures and start attracting criminal charges, says Margaret Lewis, a law professor at Seton Hall University.
“In the past it wasn't like people were like, 'I'll pick up an unauthorized biography of Bo Chila from the coffee shop.' But it's increasing the temperature, not changing the climate altogether,” says Lewis.
“But it shows the power of information and books. They care enough to say that this is a punishable violation.
