Chinese Whispers: why do people join the CCP?
Best of the Spectator
The Spectator
4.3 • 826 Ratings
🗓️ 5 February 2024
⏱️ 47 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
And yet the CCP's track record is strewn with bloody crackdowns and systematic persecution. So what would drive someone to join the CCP, and what accounts for its success? Do party members today all support the atrocities committed by their government? I think these are important questions to ask, because without understanding the answers to them, one couldn’t understand China’s modern history or its society today.
To delve into the psychology of card carrying communists, I’m joined by two great guests in this week's episode.
Xinran Xue is a Chinese journalist, who had a popular radio show in China in the 90s, before moving to the UK and becoming an author of numerous books on China. Her latest book is called The Book of Secrets, which is a memoir of sorts, where her protagonist was one of the founding members of the CCP’s intelligence service. I recently reviewed it for The Spectator.
Professor Kerry Brown is Director of the Lau China Institute at Kings College London and a former diplomat in Beijing where he worked alongside Chinese government officials for many years. His latest book is China Incorporated: The Politics of a World Where China is Number One.
On the episode, we discuss the party membership's divide between the intellectuals and the peasants; how the Cultural Revolution changed the party from an ideological body to a corporate one; and what a new generation of communists might have in store.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The Spectator magazine combines incisive political analysis with books and arts reviews of unrivaled authority. |
| 0:07.5 | Subscribe today for just £12 and receive a 12-week subscription, in print and online, plus a £20 £20,000, Amazon gift voucher. |
| 0:16.4 | Absolutely free. Go to spectator.com.uk forward slash voucher. |
| 0:31.0 | Hello and welcome to Chinese Whispers with me, Cindy Yu. Every episode, I'll be talking to journalists, experts, and long-time China watchers about the latest in Chinese politics, society, and more. |
| 0:42.6 | There'll be a smattering of history to catch you up on the background knowledge and some context as well. How do the Chinese see these issues? |
| 0:50.5 | The Chinese Communist Party has some 98 million members. That's more people than the population of Germany. |
| 0:57.0 | Its membership continues to grow, making it one of the most successful and resilient political parties of the last 100 years. |
| 1:04.0 | Perhaps with the exception of India's BJP, which boasts just about twice as many. |
| 1:09.0 | So what drives someone to join the CCP and what accounts for its success? |
| 1:14.9 | I think these are important questions to ask, |
| 1:17.2 | because without understanding the answers to them, |
| 1:19.5 | one couldn't understand China's modern history or its society today. |
| 1:23.6 | So to delve into the psychology of card-carrying communists, |
| 1:27.3 | I'm joined by two great guests today. |
| 1:30.0 | Siren Suu is a Chinese journalist who had a popular radio show in China in the 90s before moving to the UK and becoming an author of numerous books on the country. |
| 1:39.5 | Her latest book is called The Book of Secrets, which is a memoir of sorts, where her protagonist was one of the |
| 1:45.6 | founding members of the CCP's Intelligence Service back in the 50s. I recently reviewed it for the |
| 1:51.4 | spectator. And I'm also joined by Professor Kerry Brown, who's the director of the Lao |
| 1:56.4 | China Institute at King's College London and a former diplomat in Beijing where he worked alongside |
| 2:01.8 | Chinese government officials for many years. His latest book is China Incorporated, the politics |
| 2:07.4 | of a world where China is number one. Carrie and Siena, welcome to Chinese whispers. |
| 2:13.3 | Now, Carrie, can we start with the most obvious motivation for someone to join the CCP ideology? |
... |
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