I became aware of Red Roulette after watching Desmond Shum on a panel with Civic Future. I was fascinated by his story and immediately purchased the book on Audible. This is a man who was inside the inner circles of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Red Roulette is a biographical account of Desmond’s life. Desmond describes his rise to the inner circles of power in China and how he turned away from his home and now lives in the West.
These were my three takeaways from this book.
- The families of the founding revolutionaries operate as a separate, elite-tier class.
- The high stakes of business deals and political allegiences in a country where mistakes can cost you your life.
- Desmond Shum’s immense bravery.
The Red Aristocracy and Guanxi
There’s a lie perpetrated by the Chinese Communist Party that it prioritises the collective over the selfish interests of the individual. Many in the West, unhappy with the West’s obsession with individual rights, buy into this fantasy that the Chinese Communist Party focuses on the common good. The reality is that the Party’s main purpose is to serve the interests of the sons and daughters of its revolutionaries. They are the primary beneciaries; they are the ones sitting at the nexus of economic and political power.
… over time, I became increasingly dismayed by the members of the Red Aristocracy. The sons and daughters of China’s leaders were a species unto themselves. They lived by different rules and inhabited what seemed at times like a different dimension, cut off from the rest of China.
Guanxi wasn’t a contractual relationship per se: it was a human-to-human connection, built painstakingly over time. You had to show genuine concern for the person.
I had not appreciated prior to reading this book, how the system is set up to serve not only the party, but the Red Aristocracy. The Red Aristocracy are the descendants of the original revolutionaries, those generals and loyalists who fought alongside Chairman Mao in the Revolutionary War against Chiang Kaishek’s Nationalist forces. Shum reveals how separate this class of people are. He describes how they live in palaces behind high walls. They shop in different stores. They attend schools not open to ordinary Chinese and have separate hospitals. They also sell access to their family connections as the only method for doing business.
Cultivating and wielding these relationships successfully is a central part of doing business in China. Guanxi refers to the close personal ties required for business relationships. It is the ultimate price of success in China. Whom can you call to get this approval document signed?
Desmond and his wife Whitney become masters at the Guanxi game. They become connected to the Red Aristocracy through their partnership with Aunty Zhang the wife of Wen Jiabao. Wen Jiabao was the Chinese Premier. The Chinese Premier is the number two position in the Chinese Government after Hu Jiantao (the predecessor to Xi Jinping).
Business relationships are vital across the world. In China, they are even more important, given the parties domination of social, political and economic life. Shum describes how the
Dissapearances and Executions
“Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun” Mao Zedong 1927
But to me the most convincing argument for the Party’s dictatorial lurch remains the nature of the Chinese Communist Party. The Party has an almost animal instinct toward repression and control. It’s one of the foundational tenets of a Leninist system. Anytime the Party can aord to swing toward repression, it will.
The most shocking anecdotes in the book are the execution and disappearances of entrepreneurs and officials. Playing the game of guanxi comes with its risks. Unless you yourself are a member of the Red Aristocracy, you can literally be playing with your life.
Shum recounts the story of a former property mogul who is arrested on corruption charges in 2006. Li Peiying was a big drinking, big gambling developer who fell foul of his own success.
Shum recounts how Li had been successful in his role at the Beijing Airport. By far exceeding his government mandated return on investment, he made himself a target of rivals who wanted his lucrative post. After the authorities disappeared him, he reappeared in custody and was executed on corruption charges in 2009. The fact that he didn’t have familial ties to the Red Aristocracy meant that he was executed, whereas in other similar cases officials had their lives spared due to their blood ties.
Shum’s wife, Whitney is also disappeared by the state. At the time of the books writing she had been disappeared for two years with no word of where she was being held, or whether she was alive. On recent podcasts it is revealed that she is alive, although she is not allowed to leave China.
Desmond and Whitney rose to success during a period of increasing private freedoms and enterprise in China. After the failures of the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution Deng Xiaoping implemented economic reforms. These reforms included privatisation of agricultural land, establishment of special economic zones (tax incentives and deregulation for foreign investment), and the encouragement of private businesses. This loosening grip of the party led to rapid economic growth and by the 1990s and early 2000s many expected the loosening to continue and private liberties to expand.
However, after 2008 and Xi Jinping’s leadership (2012) there has been a widespread crackdown on civil liberties, with tens of millions of people being investigated for corruption. This has been a purge of all factions of the party not aligned with Xi, and ultimately led to the kneecapping of entrepreneurs and business leaders. It was a reassertion of party control. The party giveth, and the party taketh away.
“You will always get out of the pool”
The book repeatedly returns to the phrase “You will always get out of the pool”. Desmond’s early life was shaped by swimming. Swimming in outdoor pools in Shanghai winters, breaking ice and dealing with masochistic coaches. Desmond’s grit and determination in achieving his business goals are on display throughout the book.
But the most impactful thing of this whole story is the immense bravery that Desmond has shown by sharing his story. The arbitrary and violent exercises of power that the CCP demonstrate are chilling reminders that this organisation is not friendly. Desmond Shum has put himself in the crosshairs for publishing this book. It is impossible for him to return to his family or for his son to return to his mother. The personal risk that Desmond has taken add weight to his testimony. I hope that he continues to get out of the pool.
The Chinese of course will have to come to their own conclusions. Self determination is an important pillar of the international order. But the CCP do not play by the same rules as the Western Governments. That should not be forgotten.