當年今日﹕Deng's South China Tour

[2015.01.19] 發表
Deng visits Shanghai.
Deng visits China Folk Culture Village in Shenzhen.

【明報專訊】On 18 January 1992 Deng Xiaoping (鄧小平) began his tour of South China, an important chapter of his illustrious career as China's reformer.

1. Deng's life and career

Deng Xiaoping was born in 1904 in Sichuan. He was first introduced to Marxism (馬克思主義) by Zhou Enlai (周恩來), who later became China's first Premier, when both were studying in France. Deng climbed the leadership ladder quickly after he had joined Zhou's leftist movement, but was ousted (攆走) by his fellow revolutionaries in 1933.

Deng held high posts after the People's Republic of China (中華人民共和國) was founded in 1949. He had suffered from two purges (清洗) before he secured his position as China's paramount leader in the late 1970s, when he was in his seventies.

Deng set about reforming China as soon as he came to power. With his "economic reform and opening up policy" (改革開放政策), he introduced market economy (市場經濟) to China, allowing people to set up small businesses. Deng's policies are widely credited for laying the foundation for China's prosperity today.

2. The Southern Tour

(a) The background

When he had his South China tour, Deng held no official post in the Chinese government. He embarked on the journey when China was at a political crossroads. In the wake of the bloody crackdown on the 1989 pro-democracy protests, the international community snapped sanctions (制裁) on China, threatening its economic development. Jiang Zemin (江澤民), who assumed power after the June 4 incident, pursued conservative economic policies, and there were even views that the Chinese government should scale back the "economic reform and opening up policy" and again embrace "class struggle" (階級鬥爭) philosophies.

With his South China tour, however, Deng sought to make sure that China would keep up its efforts to reform.

(b) The visits

The first place Deng visited was the Wuchang District (武昌區) in Hubei Province (湖北省). There, he made in a famous speech the following four points: (1) that the economic reform and opening up policy was the only way to save China; (2) that economic development should override everything else (發展才是硬道理), and there was no point in arguing whether it was socialism or capitalism that China should embrace; (3) that economic development should not be excessively low; and (4) that leftist ideas would do harm, and those who did not support economic reform had to step down.

Deng went on to visit Hunan (湖南), Guangdong (廣東), Shanghai (上海), Anhui (安徽), etc. His tour ended on 21 February.

(c) Media coverage

At first Deng's South China tour was not reported by any official Chinese news agencies. It was not known until TVB brought the news to light. After that Jiefang Daily (《解放日報》) and a Shenzhen newspaper began publishing editorials supporting Deng. Jiang was then forced to confirm Deng had started the tour and reaffirm Beijing's commitment to the economic reform and opening up policy.

(d) Importance of the tour

Deng's South China tour settled disputes within the Chinese leadership, ensuring that China would continue to pursue "socialism with Chinese characteristics" (有中國特色的社會主義). Indeed, in October that year, at the Fourteenth National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party of China (中國共產黨第十四次全國代表大會), Chinese leaders confirmed that Deng's policies would remain the guidelines of China's development.

更多教育
放眼世界﹕日本×自律
【明報專訊】世界有超過190個國家,小記雖然喜歡向外探索,到未踏足過的國度歷奇,但有些地方是「百去不厭」的,就是日本和台灣。日本離香港不遠,... 詳情
【明報專訊】■個人成長與人際關係 1. 根據資料及就你所知,什麼因素導致青少年有錯誤的金錢價值觀? 父母溺愛 ?不少家長出... 詳情
集師廣益﹕什麼是生活素質?
【明報專訊】學習「生活素質」這概念,不可只說不做,知而不行。道理很簡單,如果生活素質是一個規範性的觀念,即有價值的,那我們就有以它為方向,追... 詳情
常識學堂﹕見證北角  移民足印
【明報專訊】北角英皇道是香港島的繁忙街道,但原來以前的北角屬偏遠地區。文化旅遊社企「活現香港」創辦人陳智遠(Paul哥哥)解釋:「1842年... 詳情
香港到處遊﹕細說北角  移民故事
【明報專訊】Paul哥哥說,「北角」本指香港島北面的一點,並非指整個地區,直至1980年代地鐵(現為港鐵)設立北角站,該區才被廣泛稱為北角。... 詳情

明報網站 · 版權所有 · 不得轉載
Copyright © 2015 mingpaocanada.com All rights reserved.
Ming Pao Daily News A wholly owned subsidiary of Ming Pao Enterprise Corporation Ltd.
Toronto Chinese Newspaper

1355 Huntingwood Drive, Scarborough, Ontario, Canada M1S 3J1 | Tel.: (416) 321-0088 | Fax: (416) 321-9663 | Advertising Hotline Tel: (416) 673-8250