Speaking to hundreds of officials and citizens yesterday, President Hu Jintao hailed Deng Xiaoping as the architect of China's economic reforms on the 100-year anniversary of the late supreme leader's birth.
Deng, who died in 1997, is also known as the crusher of the 1989 pro-democracy movement at Tiananmen Square. Hu referred to the event in his speech.
"Facing the political upheavals at home and abroad in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Deng ... firmly supported the party and government," Hu said. This helped the party and nation "to stand the severe tests and uphold the correct course of socialism with Chinese characteristics."
Deng developed the "one country, two systems" model that China purports to apply to Taiwan and Hong Kong. In his speech, Hu vowed that Beijing will stick to that principle.
"Great progress has been made in the reunification of the motherland, over which Deng had showed great concern, as Hong Kong and Macao have returned to the motherland ... and we are working for the final settlement of the Taiwan issue," Hu said.
China claims Taiwan is part of its territory and has threatened war if the nation takes formal steps toward independence.
Hu urged the Chinese people to "firmly safeguard China's sovereignty and territorial integrity" by opposing Taiwan independence.
"We are ready to strive for the prospects of peaceful reunification with our utmost sincerity and utmost efforts, but we are also fully determined and capable of smashing any scheme to separate Taiwan from China," he said.Hu praised Deng as a man who always made the people's interests a priority.
"In his whole life comrade Deng Xiaoping kept his words: to spare no efforts to do things that are good to the people," said Hu, whose hourlong tribute at the Great Hall of the People was punctuated by applause.
A giant portrait of a smiling Deng hung from the center of the stage, flanked on each side by four Chinese flags.
"The creative ideas of late leader Deng Xiaoping and the policies he put forward have provided a strong theoretical guidance to the continuous development of the cause of the Party and people," said Hu, who was picked by Deng to succeed former President Jiang Zemin.
Born in Guangan, a poverty-striken area in Sichuan, Deng launched China's economic reforms in 1978, establishing special economic zones and courting the foreign investment that led to a two-decade-long economic boom.
The leap toward capitalism would transform China into a global economic power as the world began to realize the potential of a market packed with 1.3 billion people.
Hu's speech was broadcast live on state television, and stories and photos about Deng filled state-run newspapers.
In a front page editorial, the Communist Party's People's Daily newspaper named him "the son of the Chinese people."
"The most important historical contribution by comrade Deng Xiaoping is his great decision for reform and opening up and his creation of a road to socialist modernization," the editorial said. "He will live in the Chinese people's hearts forever."
A new online voting system aimed at boosting turnout among the Philippines’ millions of overseas workers ahead of Monday’s mid-term elections has been marked by confusion and fears of disenfranchisement. Thousands of overseas Filipino workers have already cast their ballots in the race dominated by a bitter feud between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and his impeached vice president, Sara Duterte. While official turnout figures are not yet publicly available, data from the Philippine Commission on Elections (COMELEC) showed that at least 134,000 of the 1.22 million registered overseas voters have signed up for the new online system, which opened on April 13. However,
ENTERTAINMENT: Rio officials have a history of organizing massive concerts on Copacabana Beach, with Madonna’s show drawing about 1.6 million fans last year Lady Gaga on Saturday night gave a free concert in front of 2 million fans who poured onto Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro for the biggest show of her career. “Tonight, we’re making history... Thank you for making history with me,” Lady Gaga told a screaming crowd. The Mother Monster, as she is known, started the show at about 10:10pm local time with her 2011 song Bloody Mary. Cries of joy rose from the tightly packed fans who sang and danced shoulder-to-shoulder on the vast stretch of sand. Concert organizers said 2.1 million people attended the show. Lady Gaga
ALLIES: Calling Putin his ‘old friend,’ Xi said Beijing stood alongside Russia ‘in the face of the international counter-current of unilateralism and hegemonic bullying’ Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday was in Moscow for a state visit ahead of the Kremlin’s grand Victory Day celebrations, as Ukraine accused Russia’s army of launching air strikes just hours into a supposed truce. More than 20 foreign leaders were in Russia to attend a vast military parade today marking 80 years since the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, taking place three years into Russia’s offensive in Ukraine. Putin ordered troops into Ukraine in February 2022 and has marshaled the memory of Soviet victory against Nazi Germany to justify his campaign and rally society behind the offensive,
CONFLICTING REPORTS: Beijing said it was ‘not familiar with the matter’ when asked if Chinese jets were used in the conflict, after Pakistan’s foreign minister said they were The Pakistan Army yesterday said it shot down 25 Indian drones, a day after the worst violence between the nuclear-armed rivals in two decades. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif vowed to retaliate after India launched deadly missile strikes on Wednesday morning, escalating days of gunfire along their border. At least 45 deaths were reported from both sides following Wednesday’s violence, including children. Pakistan’s military said in a statement yesterday that it had “so far shot down 25 Israeli-made Harop drones” at multiple location across the country. “Last night, India showed another act of aggression by sending drones to multiple locations,” Pakistan military spokesman Ahmed
RSS