【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.
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