Monday, June 11, 2007

The Visa Due Nothing

Leys had got into mainland China, and got out, largely on his own terms. He had seen enough with his own eyes to know what he could credit and discredit from the eyes of others. In a book of surprisingly few pages he said more, more cogently, about the horror of Maoism than any other author. He is long since banned from entering mainland China; for he never compromised himself.

Almost all “China experts” -- from that day to this -- have compromised themselves, for professional reasons. Which is to say, they dare not write anything that could cost them their next visa into China, for being able to come and go is part of the China expert’s credentials, and his connexions to the Chinese official class are likewise necessary to maintaining an air of smugness towards those without credentials.
His motto is from Edmund Burke: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”