China's princelings embrace the limelight
Lee Seok Hwai
The Straits Times
Publication Date : 21-07-2008




Bo Guagua 20


He is 20, studies at Oxford University, loves street dancing and has published a book of prose.

She designs jewellery, hob-nobs with the rich and famous and got her introduction to high society at an upper-crust debutantes' ball in Paris.

Meet Bo Guagua and Wan Baobao, part of China's new breed of media-savvy, blue-blooded children.

As the offspring of top Chinese leaders in the Internet age, they, as well as several other 'princelings', are embracing public attention like never before.

Whether or not the trend is a conscious attempt at relating to the public, observers are applauding it as a reflection of how far Chinese leaders have come from their stodgy, secretive image only a generation ago.

Take for instance Bo, the son of Chinese Commerce Minister Bo Xilai. At age 18, he was featured in a glossy spread by a Chinese men's magazine, alongside the likes of pianist Lang Lang and snooker champion Ding Junhui, said Southern Weekend, a Guangdong-based newspaper.

Tango is cool, Bo said in his interview with the magazine. So are street dancing, cinematography and writing prose, he said, referring to his book Uncommonwealth. The book is a collection of whimsical - if not exactly patriotic - poetry and illustrations.

The image is that of a youth who is interested in the things that make other young people tick. Normal, in other words.

Professor Zhu Lijia of the National School of Administration, a training ground for Chinese state officials, told Southern Weekend such transparency helps the public to form a clearer impression of the princelings.

He pointed out that the exposure enables "the public to know more about the leaders and their families, which in turn helps to build trust".

It is also a refreshing change from the colourless cut-outs that were the sum of the princelings' public image as recently as the 1990s. The only times the public could catch a glimpse of them were at parties or national events, when they would stick by the side of their famous parents and blend into the furniture.

Articles written about heirs such as Deng Xiaoping's eldest son Deng Pufang and President Hu Jintao's son Hu Haifeng were largely rambling and politically correct accounts of their upbringing and even revolutionary credentials.

Now, in an era where the lines between politics and celebrity are increasingly blurred, many privileged progeny are creating a buzz usually reserved for movie stars and socialites.

Wan, 24, and Ye Mingzi, 29, are the most glamorous of the pack. Both regularly appear in Chinese society pages, stylishly draped in designer dresses, oozing attitude, and accessorised with a celebrity or two.

They are all the more fascinating when one juxtaposes their image with their lineage. For Wan, a jewellery designer who studied in the United States and France, Dad is Wan Jifei, a minister heading the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, while Grandpa is Communist Party elder Wan Li.

Ye, a fashion designer trained at London's Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, is the granddaughter of Communist Party General Ye Jianying, who was Mao Zedong's right-hand man during the Long March.

Then there are youngsters, like the son of former foreign minister Li Zhaoxing, who endear themselves to the masses by being 'ordinary'.

Li Hehe suffered the ignominy of being retrenched by a United States company at the height of the post-Sept 11 recession. This seems to have imbued the young man with a dash of the Everyman, although his life has otherwise been a string of success stories involving Harvard, Oracle, and graduating summa cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania.

State media says this warts- and-all approach to publicity is indicative of a more open and enlightened leadership.

True or not, the young princelings, most of whom shun politics, are enjoying their day in the sun.

__________________
"A smart man learns from his mistakes.
A wise man learns from mistakes of others."


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