User:Lichq3553

My father is Li Gang

* Facing up to suicide

THEY CALL them the “ guan er da i” and “ fu er dai ” respectively, the second generation children of senior party officials or China’s new millionaire class. Spoiled brats, they are products of the “little emperor” syndrome associated with the country’s one-child policy and are fed by their supreme confidence in their social standing and impunity that power and money bring in this deeply divided society. Not the most pleasant manifestations of the new China. “Sue me if you dare. My father is Li Gang,” is the result, the Chinese equivalent of the old familiar jibe: “What are ye having Guard, a pint or a transfer?”

The brat in question had just mowed down two roller-skating students in the grounds of Hebei University in central China; one, Chen Xiaofeng, died. The 22-year-old drunk, who then tried to speed away, was Li Qiming, the son of Li Gang, a local deputy police chief, and the line with which he fobbed off security guards’ trying to hold him has gone viral online, despite the efforts of censors. The derision with which the censor himself is now being treated online suggests China’s notorious firewall may be less solid than the authorities would like to believe.

A month after the incident, much of China knows the story, and “My father is Li Gang”, the New York Times reports, has become a widespread catchphrase for dodging responsibility with impunity, “from washing the dishes to being faithful to a girlfriend”. One female blogger is running a contest to incorporate “My father is Li Gang” into classical Chinese poetry. Other competitions, using ad slogans and song lyrics, have emerged elsewhere on the internet. In Chongqing, an artist created an installation based on the phrase.

While Li and son have apologised and the latter may yet face charges, the story has shone a telling spotlight on three important facets of Chinese society: deep political and economic inequality – two years ago China surpassed the UK to lag behind only the US in the number of dollar millionaires; the impunity of officialdom and its instinctive response to suppress scandal, to censor; and the growing unwillingness, despite repression exemplified by Nobel winner Liu Xiaobo’s continued imprisonment, of young people to kowtow to the authorities.

“In society they say everyone is equal, but in every corner there is inequality,” Chen Lin, brother of Chen Xiaofeng, was cited as saying before the clampdown. He is not alone in drawing that subversive conclusion.