Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c14.s4.t18: Deng Xiaoping
Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c14.s4.t18
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Deng Xiaoping
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Deng Xiaoping (August 22, 1904-February 19, 1997) was a Marxist, Chinese proletarian revolutionist, politician, militarist, diplomatist; an outstanding leader of the Chinese Communist Party, Chinese People's Liberation Army and People's Republic of China; chief architect of China's reform, opening up and modernisation programme and founder of Deng Xiaoping Theory. He was born in Guang'an,
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Deng Xiaoping
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Sichuan Province.
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Deng Xiaoping was born in Paifang Village, Xiexing Town, Guang'an County (present-day Guang'an City), Sichuan Province. He went to France to study on the basis of self-supporting through hard work in 1920. In 1924, he joined the Communist Party of China. He went to study in the Soviet Union in 1926 and returned to China in the spring of 1927. From 1929-1930, he led the Bose Uprising and Longzhou Uprising successively. In October 1934, he joined the long march of the Red Army. He mainly led military and political struggles but also laid emphasis on economic works during the Anti-Japanese War and the War of Liberation. In October 1949, he acted as a member of the People's Revolutionary Military Committee of China. In 1952, he served as the Vice Premier of the Government Administration Council of the Central Government (present-day State Council). In 1955, he became a co-opted member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee. In 1956, he was elected as a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and the General Secretary of the Central Committee. He was deprived of all his duties twice during the “Cultural Revolution”. In 1977, he resumed his post as a party, political and military leader. In December 1978, he delivered a speech titled ‘*Emancipate the Mind, Seek Truth from Facts and Unite as One in Looking to the Future*’ at the working conference of the CPC Central Committee before the Third Plenary Session of the 11^th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. In 1981, he was elected as the Chairman of the Central Military Commission. He died in Beijing on February 9, 1997.
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Deng Xiaoping meets Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi during his visit to China
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While serving as the state leader, Deng Xiaoping attached great importance to the development of India-China relations and met visiting leaders of India on many occasions. In February 1979, he met the then Indian Foreign Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and his companions and gave a keynote speech on India-China relations. In 1982, he pointed out that India and China were not threat to each other and called on the two nations to understand each other, put aside disputes and promote friendship while meeting the delegation from the Indian Council of Social Science Research. In December 1988, he held a talk with the visiting Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and made clear that, “China and India share a common responsibility for humanity that is to develop by leveraging on existing favourable and peaceful international environment”. He also noted, “Asian century cannot be talked about without the development of both China and India and we could only say Asia-Pacific century or Asian century when China, India and other neighbouring countries realise development in true sense.” On top of that, he also emphasised the significance of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence for directing the international relations. Besides, he also gave prominence to people-to-people exchanges between the two countries and met Indian delegations and friendly personage on many occasions. Under the positive initiative and promotion by him, India and China witnessed deepened cooperation in trade, economy and culture and opened up a new prospect for bilateral relations.
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(*Li Baolong*)