Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China Read Online Free PDF

century of dealing with life-and-death issues near the center of power. Having faced ups and downs, and been given time to recover with support from his wife, children, and close colleagues, he had become comfortable with who he was. When he did not know something, he readily admitted it. President Jimmy Carter commented that Deng, unlike Soviet leaders, had an inner confidence that allowed one to get directly into substantive issues. He did not dwell on what might have been or who was at fault for past errors; as in bridge, which he played regularly, he was ready to play the hand he was dealt. He could recognize and accept power realities and operate within the boundaries of what seemed possible. Once Mao was no longer alive to look over his shoulder, Deng was sufficiently sure of himself and his authority that with guests he could be relaxed, spontaneous, direct, witty, and disarmingly frank. At a state banquet in Washington in January 1979, when told by Shirley MacLaine about a Chinese intellectual who was so grateful for what he had learned about life after being sent to the countryside to raise tomatoes during the Cultural Revolution, Deng's patience was soon exhausted. He interrupted her to say, “He was lying” and went on to tell her how horrible the Cultural Revolution had been.
     
    For someone who turned seventy-four in 1978, Deng was still vigorous and alert. He still took his morning break with a fast-paced half-hour walk around the garden of his home where he also kept his office. Many Chinese leaders, when seated next to their guest in comfortable chairs that were placed aside each other, would look straight ahead when they talked, but Deng liked to turn and look directly at the person he was talking with. He had an inquisitive mind and was a good listener. When he objected to the policies of foreign nations, foreign officials described him as feisty and “tough as nails.” Having observed nations pursuing their self-interest through imperialism, colonialism, and the use of military force abroad, Deng was never naïve about what to expect from foreign leaders professing goodwill. But even when they did not like what he had to say, foreign visitors, from different social positions and different parties, from large countries and small, ended up feelingcomfortable with him. They felt he was someone with whom they could do business.
     
    Some Westerners were so impressed with Deng's directness and pragmatism that they mistakenly thought he was a capitalist at heart and that he would lead China toward a Western-style democracy. He was always ready to learn, but in the end he believed he knew better than they what was good for China and it was not capitalism and Western-style democracy.
     
    By 1978, Deng was hard of hearing in his right ear, and it was awkward for him to take part in group meetings where various people expressed their views. He much preferred to read papers, and he spent every morning sitting by himself reading reports; his office director each day brought him fifteen newspapers and all the important reports; Deng would choose which ones to spend time on. In some ways it was easier for him to meet foreigners, for the interpreter could speak directly in his good left ear, making it natural as he exchanged views with his guests. Deng spoke Mandarin with a strong Sichuanese accent, but it was intelligible to other Mandarin speakers and did not slow him down. The responsibilities Deng faced were daunting, but it is difficult to imagine how anyone could have been much better prepared for the tasks or better suited for them by temperament and habit.
     
    Deng had an instinctive patriotism and commitment to the Communist Party that inspired the confidence of his fellow officials. The patriotism that underlay Deng's lifelong activism had jelled at age fourteen, just when popular nationalism took hold in the country, as he took to the streets of Guang'an county where he was attending middle school. Five