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Lulu's new boyfriend, Ah-Du, is a young, ambitious Beijinger who  dreams  of becoming a high-ranking official. He has promised Lulu  he will marry her once he reaches the  rank of  vice-minister.

To help him reach this goal, Lulu has asked for some help from her friend Beibei.

'Beibei, you know so many officials,' Lulu pleads, 'Help him unlock the secrets of success! If he can reach his goal sooner, my dream of marrying him will come true sooner.'

Beibei agrees to help. She tells Ah-Du  he can choose to meet either her grandfather, a retired general, or her uncle, a vice-governor. Ah-Du is more interested in  a civilian position than  a military one, so he chooses to see the vice-governor.

Beibei's  uncle agrees to have tea with him.

'Nowadays, young people seem to be more interested in becoming a CEO,'  the uncle says on meeting Ah-Du. 'Why do you want to be a civil servant?'

Ah-Du replies, 'The former CEO of the China National Off-shore Oil Corporation was transferred to Hainan province to become its governor. This was considered a promotion in Beijing. Now, maybe it's true in the US that being the CEO of a big corporation is more attractive than being a civil servant, but in China, a high-ranking government position means power, respect and perks like riding in motorcades, paid expenses, an Audi with a driver, and owning a house with a high wall and guards.

'My cousin is an official. Although he is only the head of a small township, he almost  never pays out of his own pocket. He's entitled to write off big meals, phone calls, parking fees,  petrol and many other expenses. When I visited his township, I was put up in the presidential suite of the local four-star hotel and was invited to eat sharks' fin soup and other delicacies every day by the people there. I'm only a distant cousin of his, and yet I was treated like a king.'

The vice-governor is shocked. 'This is not the right attitude to take for such a position. A public official should think of how to give, not how to receive.'

'Well, I'll change my attitude if you can teach me the most important factor for success!' Ah-Du says.

The vice-governor sighs. He   thinks young people nowadays are  utilitarian and impatient. He doesn't  want to help Ah-Du, but since he is a friend of his niece Beibei, he feels obliged to do so.

'Why don't you  tell me what you think the key is,' says Beibei's uncle.

Ah-Du takes out his notebook  and reads,  'Know the right person? Have a mentor or two who will speak for you?'

Beibei's uncle shakes his head.

'Work as an assistant to a VIP?'

Beibei's uncle shakes his head.

'Be capable but not aggressive?'

Beibei's uncle shakes his head.

'Be patient?'

Again he shakes his head.

'What is it then?' Ah-Du asks.

'All the things you mentioned are important. But the most important factor is  age,' says the vice-governor. 'Take my best friend.  He was  10 years older than me.  He graduated from a top school, one better than mine, and was  first in our field. But he never got as far as I did. He was too young to be a governor when seniority was  important and our country was run by a group of octogenarians. And, then when our country focused on cultivating young and middle-aged cadres, he was considered too old. I, on the other hand, was always the right age at the right time, and that is how I got promoted.  When our province needed a forty-something mayor, I was  in my 40s. When our province needed a vice-governor in his 50s, again, I was in the right age bracket. So, why can't I become a prime minister or a vice-minister? Because I'm over 70 now - too  old for those positions. Just as  it was age that brought me to  the position of vice-governor, so  it is  age that will keep me at  this level.'

'What about me?' Ah-Du asks. 'I'm 29 now. I'm an assistant to a vice-mayor. When can I expect to become mayor myself?'

'Well,  that depends on when other officials start to care about your age,' the uncle says.

'I see. I know there's the possibility that both the mayor and the vice-mayor could die within a short period of time. But I have no way of knowing when or if that might occur.'

'There's a third way, but don't tell Beibei or Lulu I mentioned this,' the uncle says.

'Of course,' replies Ah-Du.  'A successful official must also  be discreet.'

The older man leans  close and says, 'You might think about marrying the mayor's daughter. A son-in-law can get closer to the power base than an assistant to the vice-mayor.'

And so Ah-Du learns that politics  make for strange bedfellows.



people's republic of desire