A year ago I was asked my opinion on the anointment of Xi Jinping as vice president and leader of the "party of princelings," as the new generation of Chinese Communist Party leaders is derisively called by some in China. I replied: "A dark era shall soon arrive, a dark era shall soon end." The April 3 arrest of the respected Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei illustrates this point.

Wang Shuo's novel "Wo Shi Liu Mang Wo Pa Shui" ("I Am A Hooligan, Who Can I Be Scared Of?") well describes their ruthless personalities. Once such people assume political control, their attitudes reek of heng.

Mr. Ai has inspired countless Chinese citizens with his daring art and outspoken Twitter postings. He's also an artist and dissident thinker well-known and admired abroad. The authorities must have understood that his arrest would provoke a strong backlash. Yet they arrested him anyway in a brash move typical of the princelings.

Mr. Ai's arrest was by no means an isolated incident. Fearing widespread demonstrations in the wake of the pro-democracy movements in Tunisia, Egypt and elsewhere, the Communist Party has launched a nationwide crackdown on advocates of democracy and free speech, despite repeated protests from the international community.