In this entry, President Jiang Zemin shares the life of Deng Xiaoping and his role in China. Deng Xiaoping helped China regain economic status after a horrible upset during the rule of Mao Zedong. Overall Deng created a stronger country.Deng Xiaoping had restored order to China during our economic crisis. When Mao Zedong failed to bring China up with the Great Leap Forward, thousands of people died of starvation. Fed up, Deng and Liu Shaoqi took over power from Mao, in the hopes that we would be able to restore the economic status in China as well as save the rest of the population from starvation. Deng used different parts of governments other then Communism which he found did not work well, something that Mao did not like. However, Mao was not going to go down without a fight. He made a pack with other powerful leaders and made the Gang of Four. They started the Cultural Revolution which set off a rampage of killings and the destruction of valuable cultural items found in the far regions of China. Mao stripped Deng of his high party and government posts, having most of China supporting Mao, so used to living in a Communist rule. I remember not hearing anything about Deng when Mao took over power again. I assumed he had fled the country.
It was not until a year after the death of Mao that Deng returned to his high ranks he originally had. With the help of Hu Yaobang and Zhao Ziyang, Deng was able to begin rebuilding the economic development of China. The first thing Deng did was allow freedom from Communism. He granted farmers individual control over their crops and their profit. He gave factories the right to choose production levels as well as choose who they wish to sell to. Deng found that changing the government to have partly a democratic rule would be useful. This type of rule is used in Western countries such as the United States who are thriving economically. He also found that importing and exporting goods with foreign countries allowed for foreign investment. All elements helped strengthen the economy and gave freedom to the people of China to pursue what they want. I know that I was grateful to be able to study the culture of China, including the culture of some of the Western countries. I most enjoyed France and its gorgeous castles from the 1500s.
There have been some upsets during his reign of power, such as the rebellions in Tiananmen Square. The students wanted greater political freedom from the government, which Deng did not handle well. He approved the China’s Communist Party (CCP) to fight, leading to the massacre of more than 2oo people and leaving nearly 3,000 wounded. To satisfy the protestors, however, he fired Zhao from power and replaced him with myself, Jiang Zemin. This left the government with no communist influences, which the protesters had hoped for.
Nearly 10,000 people attended the funeral service for Deng Xiaoping. Many people came to mourn their deceased leader, who had taken them out of a troubled government that was leading to the destruction of China’s economy. Around the nation, sirens and horns sounded for three minutes in memory of the beloved leader. All of China, whether they were at the funeral or not, gave their blessings to their late leader, factories and offices taking the day off to commemorate Deng Xiaoping. Deng was a good friend of mine and I had a few things to say about him. I can still remember my exact words, “The Chinese People love, thank, mourn for, and cherish the memory of Comrade Deng Xiaoping.” There was a question about whether China would be able to stay in such a great economic status as Deng had made it. Although Deng's passing may be worrisome, I believe as long as we continue the way we have been living for so long now, we can be even better than before. I think that even though Deng had passed on, the people of China should follow his guidance. That is what I plan on doing when I officially take power.
Deng Xiaoping left China as a stronger, richer country. We do not say his name in vain because he was so helpful during an extremely hard time. Tough times did not scare Deng away from doing his job as the leader of China. I believe he gave us everything he could. He put all of his heart into this country. He really did want the best for his people. He will be missed throughout China.
President Jiang Zemin
國家主席江澤民
