Episode #179: A Post-Coup Thriller (Bonus Shorts)
Deputy Chief Inspector Lu Fei, like many fictional detectives, is an honest officer seeking justice in an often unjust society. “So the series is about him and the different things that he goes through,” explains author Brian Klingborg. “But my goal is to use it not only to entertain, and to tell a good story, but also to illuminate some of the interesting aspects of modern Chinese society, culture, politics, and economics; and to use the setting, and make it intrinsic to every plot.” The series, currently a trilogy with the third book just released, is set in the cold city of Harbin near the Russian border.
Drawing on his background in East Asian Studies and his experiences living and working abroad, Klingborg wanted to create a Chinese protagonist that foreigners could identify with. At the same time, he tried to ensure that this character remained as genuinely Chinese as possible, at least to the degree that he, a non-Chinese Westerner, could manage. “There's lots of mystery, or especially thriller, spy novels, that touch on China or have Chinese characters, but those are all from the perspective of Westerners,” he notes. “As risky as it was, I wanted to create a Chinese character who had a Chinese mindset, who was relatable to a foreign audience, but still fundamentally a product of his culture and upbringing. Then to use that as a means to delve into some of the more interesting aspects of Chinese culture and politics, keeping in mind that if you're writing a crime novel, or a mystery novel, you're always dealing with bad people doing bad things!”
Klingborg’s second book, "Wild Prey," may be the first book of fiction which uses post-coup Myanmar as a setting. “The coup was relatively fresh, and I didn't really know where it would be going,” he notes. As he had started writing the book during the COVID-19 pandemic, he wanted to address the virus in the narrative, yet without making it the central focus. On top of this plot point, he also explored the illegal trade in animal trafficking between China and much of Southeast Asia.
“The first time I went to China was 1987,” he recalls. “This was before it opened up, and things were really different then! I did go through a wet market, and I remember seeing all sorts of exotic animals there in cages, which were for food and medical purposes. The Chinese, like many cultures, have a long tradition of using herbs and animal products for medicinal reasons. But it just seems like something that was very intrinsically Chinese to talk about the illegal animal trade.” Klingborg's research eventually led him to discover the strong Chinese connections throughout northern Myanmar, particularly areas where there are Chinese ethnic enclaves, including the Wa State Army’s presence on the Myanmar-China border.
“China's kind of playing both ends against the middle,” he says. “They support the central government [e.g. the military junta], but they also support these Chinese ethnic enclaves which often rebel against the central government, and supply them with weapons and tactical information. They enjoy having some influence and a potential agitator in a different nation in their back pocket. So I've just found it to be a very interesting political situation.” This nuanced, post-coup, political reality is also worked into a plot point of the book, and Lu Fei must find a way to skillfully navigate through it.
Discussing his research process, Klingborg explains that he drew inspiration from real-life drug lords, as well as historical figures like the notorious female warlord, Olive Yang. It was important for him to create a layered character like her who challenges traditional gender roles by operating within a male-dominated world. Additionally, he hoped to give his characters depth and motivations that go beyond the dichotomy of good and evil.
“When you write a crime novel, you're writing about bad people doing bad things,” he says. “That's something that you have to be conscious of,” especially as a Westerner writing about Asian cultures, he adds. That's why I endeavor as much as possible to create characters that are well-rounded and also have a positive aspect, even my villains. Very few of my villains are just 100% bad. They always have a reason for doing what they're doing. And I always try to provide some kind of human facet to their personality.”
Klingborg mentions that while the average Chinese citizen may not think much about Myanmar, there are a few, rather notorious places which attract a certain Chinese clientele. He cites Mongla, the infamous border town, as an example, which is often compared to Las Vegas or Tijuana. “Busloads of Chinese tourists, mostly men, would go down there and… drink tiger bone wine, gamble, and pick up prostitutes, basically,” he notes. “You can get animal products there. You can get ivory, you can get young girls, you can eat all kinds of things that you can't legally eat in China.” Klingborg notes how the Chinese government has been so concerned over how lawless the region is that from time to time, they actually manage to shut off all power in the town, thus forcing its citizens to return home.
“Myanmar is a fascinating place with tragic history,” Klingborg notes in closing. “We all hope that things can change sometime in the near future.”