Bestsellers in Hong Kong cafe that specialises in banned books highlight the intriguing issues in mainland China
Controversial topics include the stock market crash, the Politburo and Xi Jinping’s ongoing overhaul of the People’s Liberation Army
Banned books in numerous Hong Kong upper-floor vendors are made up of a collection of the good, the bad and the ugly, with some based on nothing but fabrications, some peppered with a mix of facts and legends, while others opening a window into the truths that serve the interest of people across the border, said industry insiders.
Though banned publications such as Chengming Magazine – critical of Chinese Communist Party – came to the Hong Kong market as early as the late 1970s, it was not until the disgraced Bo Xilai drama in 2013 that the trade really entered a boom period, several ban book retailers told the Post.
In People’s Recreation Community, a tiny book cafe in Causeway Bay specialising in a wide range of reading material banned on the mainland, a poster wall announced the latest bestsellers.
Looking at the books that rank highest in sales sheds light upon the most controversial topics in China, including the stock market crash, the Politburo, and Xi Jinping’s ongoing overhaul of the People’s Liberation Army.
“In general, the sales of books that forecast what will happen next in China politics, economy and even the stock market always fare well, as mainlanders would love to get a better sense of how the country is directed,” said Paul Tang, owner of the cafe.
“But the credibility of the books also vary, depending on how many factual insights the individual authors were able to get.”
Tang recalled the industry’s prosperous era when a bunch of banned books published in Hong Kong during 2013 and 2014 had “successfully predicted” the fall from grace of former Chinese security tsar Zhou Yongkang, before state media announced his investigated in July 2014.
Published as early as August 2013, a book entitled Zhou Yongkang’s Biography written by an author under the pen name Paomiandaren illustrated several scandals surrounding Zhou and his family, ranging from his mistresses and extravagant lifestyle to rampant corruption in southwestern Sichuan province and China’s oil and energy companies Zhou previously oversaw.
Zhou was jailed for life in June 2015, after being convicted of a slew of corruption charges including bribery, abuse of power to “help relatives, mistresses and friends make huge profits” and leaking state secrets.
But details on Zhou’s secret love affairs, vividly featured in the book, were never confirmed by mainland authorities.
“It is not strange that some of the banned books, especially those concerning politicians who are still alive, contain sensational, or even fabricated, elements intended only to grab eyeballs,” said Tang. “They are like entertainment magazines – people read them to pry into celebrity affairs, but do not take them seriously.”
While credibility remains an issue with some books that chase after latest China politics – given the short time an author was normally given to finish them, Tang noted the quality of memoirs and books looking into historical Community Party leaders such as Zhao Ziyang and Deng Xiaoping, tended to be more “guaranteed.”
“Books like Prisoner of the State: the Secret Journal of Premier Zhao Ziyang are always popular, and well-respected, as the authors are able to get very substantial evidence to back up what they write, Tang said. “But you can’t expect an author who struggles to meet deadlines and pump out books every couple of months to give you 100 per cent true insights into what is going on.”