Deng Xiaoping's legacy

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.