The 'Forbes Curse' In China

Gady Epstein，

Think AIG Executives are despised？ Try China， where the rich have their own problems.

From the outset of Wang Gang's new Chinese novel， "The Curse of Forbes，" it is clear that rich people will not fare well. We learn right away that the protagonist Feng Shi is， "like so many rich people，" perennially in debt. He is burdened with the "original sin" of corruption that mints so many tainted fortunes in China.

This anti-hero hates the world， and even as he falls for the young beauty Jiang Qing in this doomed capitalist love story， he understands the world hates him.

"Forbes is a curse， you know，" Feng tells Jiang， in an excerpt translated recently at a Penguin Group-sponsored workshop in China. "If you get onto the Forbes list you'll be dead meat in no time."

If you think the executives at AIG have it rough (whether they deserve it or not)， try being rich in China. Numerous members of Forbes' China rich list have been jailed over the years， and the rest， Wang believes， have to wonder if they're next.

"I feel a lot of sympathy for them， and I also hate them. It's kind of a tragic class in China，" Wang says， speaking over dinner recently at a dumpling restaurant in Beijing. "Poor people and the middle class really hate them， and it's unclear whether the government， in order to deal with public opinion， will punish them."

America's wealthiest are subject to a ritual public purge whenever hard times hit and excesses come to light. Today's target of choice may be AIG， but this has been true since Ida Tarbell and the trust-busters made John D. Rockefeller the most hated man in America.

In the ， a free press， independent courts and elected representatives—each with their own shortcomings， to be sure—help sort out who deserves to be pilloried， and how to fix the underlying mess.

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China takes a different approach. A number of prominent members of Forbes' China rich lists over the years have been detained or imprisoned – the "curse" Wang describes.

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Since Forbes' first China rich list in 1999， Sichuanese tycoon Mou Qizhong， actress Liu Xiaoqing， orchid king Yang Bin， Shanghai developer Zhou Zhengyi， entrepreneur Tang Wanxin and investment boss Zhang Rongkun have been sentenced to prison for crimes ranging from tax evasion to fraud to stock manipulation to bribery. Now Gome founder Wong Kwong Yu， second-richest on our list last year， is under investigation for stock manipulation.

What was their real crime， though？ Wang would argue that the only difference between the jailed and the free is who is lucky enough to keep the favor of the government. All wealthy capitalists in China share a "terrible history" of corruption， he says， without which "they wouldn't be where they are today."