Deng's Leadership In China

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There are many fundamental changes that happened in China during Deng’s tenure. Although eighteen years have elapsed since Deng's passing away in 1997, China is still forging ahead in the overall direction of reform and opening-up to the outside world that Deng charted for China after he became the paramount leader at the end of the 1970s. Although China is now facing a very different international situation and different challenges compared with those when Deng was the paramount leader, China's current diplomacy can still learn a lot from Deng's wisdom. First, China should draw inspiration from Deng and avoid any arms race or military confrontation. Toward the middle of the 1980s, Deng concluded that, while the rivalry between the United…show more content…
Had China done otherwise, it would not have achieved its rapid economic development and profound improvement in the living standards of the Chinese people. China should continue to make development its top priority and stand firmly for peace and development, not only in China, but in the world at large. Second, Deng insisted that China should never seek hegemony. This policy of seeking no hegemony is still guiding China today. Even though China has become the second-largest economy in the world, and is expected to surpass the United States as the largest economy, possibly this decade, it does not seek hegemony or expansion. Heeding Deng's wisdom, China should not seek to impose its own values or ways of thinking on other countries, and should treat all countries in the world as equals and with respect. China should not make the mistake of "overreaching" in its foreign policies as the US has done many times in recent years. Third, China should always stand firm on matters of principle. This is why in the 1980s, Deng insisted that three preconditions should be satisfied before relations between China and the then Soviet Union could be improved: the Soviet Union's withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, and troop withdrawals from the China-Soviet Union border and the China-Mongolian border, and the withdrawal of Vietnamese troops from…show more content…
Deng Xiaoping has rendered outstanding service to the Chinese people, throughout the revolution, during the development of the People's Republic and especially in recent years when, after the disastrous "cultural revolution", he succeeded in setting the country on the road to socialist modernization. He has proved to be far-sighted and persevering, a man of quick understanding and decisive action. The contribution he has made to the revolution, his courage as an innovator have earned his the trust of the Chinese people. In his long career as a revolutionary, Deng has enjoyed many victories and has also been through severe tests. On more than one occasion, he was subjected to unjust attack simply because he refused to abandon correct views. This, however, only increase the respect in which he was held, and ultimately he became the nation's chief policy-maker. The collective leadership which he headed had ushered China into a new historical

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