A historic moment: Minister Yang Keng (right) visits VW in 1978. In the middle the engineer Wenpo Lee.
Image: Felix Lee Family Archives
Based on his father’s biography, Felix Lee tells the story of the rise of the People’s Republic in VW’s rear-view mirror. His dense description shows that the path to Xi Jinping’s hardening was not inevitable.
The book begins with a date that isn’t in the history books but actually belongs there; it marks the beginning of an era that may just be coming to an end: April 17, 1978. On this Monday, development engineer Dr. Wenpo Lee received a call from the press department: A couple of Chinese were standing in front of the factory gate, one of whom claimed to be a minister – whether Dr. Lee couldn’t even come. Without much expectation, he set off.
Mark Siemons
Feature correspondent in Berlin.
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It turned out that the somewhat shy gentlemen were actually from the People’s Republic and one of them was the Minister of Agricultural and Industrial Machinery, Yang Keng. They are interested in commercial vehicles, he said, in buses and big trucks, for everything else China is too poor. The head of production at VW, Günter Hartwich, who hurried over later that day, raised an objection: “A developing country needs cars,” he said, explaining that Dr. Lee interpreted how VW found success in post-war Germany with its concept of a mass-produced car that was affordable for the people. The minister said nothing further.