Deng Xiaoping's legacy

The eulogies from various world leaders, including President Soeharto, for China's paramount leader Deng Xiaoping, say it all. His demise Wednesday did not invoke as much grief and emotion in China as the death of his predecessor Mao Zedong 20 years ago, but for many people outside China, Deng will go down in history as the greater leader of the two. He may not have enjoyed the same stature as a statesman, but Deng leaves a far greater, lasting, and more positive legacy for the Chinese and most people in the region and the world.

Comparison between Deng and Mao may be unfair, but the praises and expressions of great loss from various capitals of the world were undoubtedly made, at least subconsciously, in the context of the contrasting styles of the two men in leading the world's most populous nation.

Their differences could not have been greater. Deng's reforms transformed China from a Stalinist state to an economic powerhouse. His focus on the domestic economy, rather than indulging in revolutions and exporting the communist ideology that preoccupied much of Mao's time, brought stability and prosperity to China.

The benefits of Deng's reforms went far beyond China's borders. The prosperity that the Asia-Pacific region -- including Indonesia -- has enjoyed these last 20 years could be attributed, indirectly but not insignificantly, to China's political stability and a rapidly growing economy under Deng. It was no coincidence that the greatest wars and turmoils in Asia occurred between the 1950s and mid-1970s when China was under Mao. An unstable China was a sure recipe for an unstable Asia, and it still is.

As much as Deng's demise represents a great loss to people outside China, one can take comfort that his legacy -- particularly the economic reforms he initiated -- will continue. In the last three years, the paramount leader has become a mere figurehead in Beijing because of his ailing health. Nevertheless, the country has remained on the path of market-based economic reforms. Even as he disappears from the scene, it is hard to envisage any successor departing from a path that has benefited the billion or so Chinese people.

Whoever takes over the helm of Chinese leadership -- all indications point to President Jiang Zemin as a likely successor -- will inherit a China that is economically much more powerful than it was 20 years ago. With economic power comes political and military might. This is particularly true for a country as big as China. How the Chinese leadership intends to use its newly gained political and military power is something the rest of the region and the world will be closely watching. But most analysts agree that as long as China continues on the path of sustainable economic growth, there is no reason for any Chinese leader to embark on a military adventure against any of its neighbors, not even against Taiwan, the "renegade province". On the contrary, market reform programs have also helped to integrate China's huge economy with the rest of the world, which in turn, brought more benefits for the Chinese people.

Deng's legacy has been chiefly on the economic front. Other than stability -- which is of paramount importance -- his political legacy has been less impressive.

His economic reforms have not been accompanied by a democratization process that many experts feel is imperative to ensure sustainable development. But democratization, as in many Asian countries, is an inevitable process. In China, it is taking a little longer because of the sheer size of its population. But the pressures from within China are already building up.

If every great leader in China is expected to be a legacy of his own, then this is probably an area where the post-Deng leadership in Beijing can make the greatest contribution.