Mon, Sep 13, 2004 page8

• To progress,China must escape from Deng legacy

  • By Jin Zhong 金鐘
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  If Deng Xiaoping (鄧小平) were still alive, he would be 100 years old this year. His birthday is Oct. 8, and the Chinese authorities have launched a whole series of commemorative events for the "greatest man of the 20th century." These activities have even extended to Hong Kong, and much has been made of his "one country, two systems" policy. But the western media is more sceptical, wondering whether someone who ordered troops to fire on student protesters really deserves this degree of commemoration.

  The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has been in power for 54 years. This period can be divided into the Mao Zedong (毛澤東) era and the Deng era, both extending for 27 years. After Mao, the country's domestic and foreign policy was laid down by Deng, with little substantive change being made by former president Jiang Zeming (江澤民) or the current regime of President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) and Prime Minister Wen Jiabao (溫家寶). In fact, the third and fourth generation of leaders were effectively put in place by Deng, which is the reason he is still held in such high esteem.

  The main complaints that people have about the present system in China -- its abnormal and lopsided economic development and its political conservatism and retrogression -- also have their source in Deng. The more China reveres Deng, the clearer it becomes that there is no hope for reform. Deng has been dead seven years now, but his successors continue to be loyal to him.

  During the 16th National Congress, Mao's former secretary Li Ruei (李銳) revealed that Deng warned Jiang when he took over the leadership that "When Mao was around, what he said went; now I'm around, what I say goes; when the time comes that what you say goes, I will not have to worry anymore."

  Jiang has followed the advice implicit in Deng's words by centralizing power, and the Hu-Wen regime seems incapable of escaping from this paradigm. Deng categorically rejected the separation of powers and parliamentary democracy. Given this, now that the 4th plenary session of the party central committee says it aims to "change the administrative functions of the CCP," is there really potential for any significant breakthrough?

  Recently, former Singaporean prime minister Lee Kuan Yew (李光耀) reminisced about having talks with Deng. He recalled one statement by Deng that if he had to order troops to open fire on 200,000 students to prevent China from falling back into 100 years of turmoil, he would do it. This is typical Deng; it's very different from the calculating cunning of Mao.

  In 1982 Deng told then British prime minister Margaret Thatcher that if he did not get back Hong Kong in 1997, he would have to step down and retire from history's stage.

  He also repeatedly told various foreign representatives that if China adopted a multi-party system, civil war would engulf the whole country. Jiang and Hu haven't the kind of authority to frighten off foreigners that Deng had, but surely they keep his warning constantly in mind.

  As for the unity of China's territory, Deng's successors have only been able to parrot his concept of "one country, two systems." But this "great theory" is little more than a way of cheating oneself and others. After all, the Hong Kong and Taiwan issues make China a laughing stock in the international community. Many words are spoken but nothing is ever achieved, and all this is Deng's legacy.

  How can China's leaders bring such as vast and complex country into the ranks of modern, civilized nations, if they cannot escape from Deng's legacy?

  Jin Zhong is editor-in-chief of Hong Kong-based Open Magazine.

  Translated by Ian Bartholomew
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