Chapter 8 Chinese people never forget their old friends - Deng Xiaoping and Nixon (3)

Nixon said: I met Deng Xiaoping four times.Every time I left Beijing, I was more and more impressed by his determination to move forward and his absolute self-confidence.And each time my impression of him is further strengthened by the dramatic changes that are taking place in the country he leads. In the chapters about Deng Xiaoping in Nixon's memoirs, his admiration and praise for Deng Xiaoping can be seen everywhere.He said that Deng Xiaoping "can see things that experts can't imagine. Indeed, he is doing what no communist country has ever done." "Power and ideology aside, Deng is betting that China will not Will turn his back on the good."He also said, "Deng Xiaoping stepped aside and left behind the people and policies he wished to stay. In this way, he displayed his superb and deft political feats." Deng Xiaoping's "legacy will be the ideological Loosen the curse and prepare China to become a future international leader."

Here, we might as well select a passage to see what kind of impression Deng Xiaoping had in Nixon’s eyes—— Deng Xiaoping, like Shigeru Yoshida in Japan, did not feel threatened by competent subordinates in the government.On the contrary, Deng Xiaoping believed that after the death of a leader, if there is a well-prepared successor to carry out his policies, this is the ultimate success.Nowadays.Deng Xiaoping was still healthy, but as the feeling that "everyone in life is immortal" became more and more apparent, Deng was instead able to understand that the key to a leader's immortality lies in the humble acknowledgment that others can and must take his place.Deng Xiaoping will be remembered for many brilliant achievements in his life.Few strong leaders in history have faced their own mortality without being forced to admit it.Deng said: "I want to step back before I get too old." This simple sentence fully proves his greatness...

Will China, having traveled so far along Deng Xiaoping's promising new path, turn back?It's unbelievable to go backwards.Nations, like individuals, can learn from their mistakes.China began to experiment with partial liberalization of the economy after it had already experimented with a centrally planned economy and failed.When Deng Xiaoping was a follower of Zhou Enlai and Mao Zedong, China was a backwater in the international ocean, humiliatingly dependent on the rewards of the Soviet Union.After the failure of the "Great Leap Forward", Deng Xiaoping realized that the potential of the Chinese people had not been realized at home, and China's national potential had not been realized on the world stage.One of the greatest legacies of Mao and Zhou is that they finally turned to the West and brought China into the 20th century.The legacy of their successors will be to unshackle China from the ideological clutches of the past and prepare China to become an international leader in the future.

Deng Xiaoping came to power as an old man with new ideas.His competitors are not the young people below him, but the old people in their eighties and nineties around him.They worried about their imagined national consequences, which Deng welcomed and encouraged.They still miss the revolutionary ideals they fought for with Deng Xiaoping; Deng Xiaoping knew that unless China's system was fundamentally reformed, a billion hungry mouths would turn those ideals into ashes. A French scholar in the 16th century wrote in despair when his life was dying: "If you know less, you can always do it." The 84-year-old Deng Xiaoping not only "knows it", but also "does it". The combination of "knowledge" and "action" produces great power, which drives 1/5 of the world's people to strive for new prosperity and become a world leader.

There are many naive observers in the West who firmly believe that Deng's long-term plan is to end communist rule in China.Deng's reforms were indeed compelling, even inspiring.But Deng was a reformer, not a revolutionist.As a communist, he does not want China to become a capitalist or a democratic country.Above all, he is a nationalist who wants China to have the economic and military power it needs to pursue the foreign and trade policies that will make it a 21st-century superpower. Although more political freedom was not Deng's explicit goal, political change could follow if economic reforms were deepened.Political change must be gradual, and of course it should be as fast as possible to keep up with the expectations of the people, but not so fast that the current political structure cannot cope.Deng himself expressed this better: "If I can enable the people to gradually improve their lives, then I think this policy itself is a reliable guarantee of its continuity."

The key to successful reform is time.Things that are very novel to the Chinese today, after a certain period of time, they will get used to them.Young leaders who have personally experienced and benefited from reform will become advocates for continuing and expanding reform.Succeeding with Deng's ideas will increase the "Freedom" prestige.China will understand that it can benefit from freedom without being afraid of it. There is no doubt that the impression Deng Xiaoping left on Nixon was unforgettable and profound.He said: "I met Deng Xiaoping four times, in Washington in 1979, in Beijing in 1982, 1985 and 1989. Every time I left Beijing, I was impressed by his strong determination and absolute self-confidence. I've been more impressed each time. And each time I've been impressed with him because of the massive changes that are taking place in the country he's leading."

The 1982 meeting was held on September 8th.Deng Xiaoping once again expressed appreciation for Nixon's contribution to opening the door of Sino-US relations 10 years ago.At the same time, Deng Xiaoping also told Nixon very bluntly: "You came to China for the benefit of the United States." But, "Conversely, it is in China's own interest to improve and strengthen relations with the United States." At the time of this meeting, the Twelfth National Congress of the Communist Party of China was being held in Beijing (September 1-11). On August 17, the Chinese government and the Reagan administration of the United States had just issued the "August 17th National Congress". Bulletin".When Deng Xiaoping and Nixon talked about this issue, Deng Xiaoping said calmly: "Of course the problem has not been completely resolved. On this issue, it depends on the actual actions of the US government in the future." He pointed out that there are still many things to do in developing Sino-US relations. hurdles, but the biggest are the issue of arms sales to Taiwan and the more long-term impact of the Taiwan Relations Act.

Deng Xiaoping said: "There are still loopholes in Sino-US relations." If we want to plug the loopholes, we should establish a relationship of mutual trust, truly proceed from the global strategy, and develop Sino-US strategic relations, not just on the Taiwan issue.The field is very wide.Deng Xiaoping told Nixon that the ongoing "Twelfth National Congress" affirmed Sino-US relations.But he also said: "The problem is that we have to wait and see." After Nixon left the White House, he devoted himself to writing and has been one of the important foreign policy advisors of his successors.Nixon has published 10 books, mainly: "Six Crisis" (1962), "Memoirs of Nixon" (1978), "True War" (1980), (1982), "True Peace" (1984), "The Vietnam War Cannot Be Repeated" (1985), "1999: Win Without Fighting" (1988), and the memoirs "In the Arena" (1990), "Beyond Peace" (1993).All these works have been translated and published in China.

In his memoir "1999: Victory Without Fighting", Nixon praised Deng Xiaoping as "one of the most outstanding statesmen of the 20th century" and said that China's "second revolution" was "under the design and guidance of Deng Xiaoping." Realistic." He spoke highly of China's remarkable achievements in economic and political reforms, and believed that they should be attributed to Deng Xiaoping. China's "Second Revolution" was designed and guided by Deng Xiaoping, which freed China from the economic dogma of Marxism-Leninism.Deng Xiaoping was and is a loyal communist who stood with Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai on the Long March before China's first successful revolution.His contribution to the founding of New China in 1949 and the consolidation of the new regime made him a trusted subordinate of Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai, but he was distressed by Mao Zedong's "Great Leap Forward".His first attempts to propose reforms in the 1960s aroused suspicion among extreme Maoists. He was exiled in 1967, but by 1973 he was back as a reliable successor to Zhou Enlai, whose cautious first steps toward economic modernization were also thwarted by Mao Zedong. In 1975, Deng Xiaoping and the dying Zhou Enlai began to continue working on the Four Modernizations, resulting in China's current guidelines.Soon, the radicals turned back and once again ousted Deng Xiaoping, leaving Zhou Enlai to live out the last months of his life alone on the fringes of power.But before long, the nation-builders overcame the fanatical forces and smashed the "Gang of Four," and Deng Xiaoping, who had twice stepped down, became China's "Supreme Leader."

He also wrote in his memoirs: "During my four visits to the People's Republic of China from 1976 to 1985, I saw this country develop from one of the most dogmatic communist countries in the world to one of the One of the most progressive communist countries in terms of the shackles of Marxist ideology. Napoleon once called China a 'sleeping giant'. Today, China has become an awakened giant. It has forever abandoned the self-isolation policy it pursued in the 1960s. will be a major geopolitical center of power in world affairs for the foreseeable future." Since Nixon took the initiative to open the door of Sino-US relations that had been closed for 23 years in 1972, Nixon has become the best postwar US president who is good at foreign affairs with his ability to analyze international issues from a global strategic perspective.During Nixon's 10-year trip to China (1979-1989), he witnessed China's important position in global strategy and international relations and the earth-shaking changes brought about by reform and opening up, which made him respect Deng Xiaoping even more.

As Nixon said to Deng Xiaoping: "You deeply believe in your system, and we also deeply believe in our system. What connects us is not a common belief, but a common interest." This may be the most sensible, objective and scientific summary of Sino-US relations.In fact, the world is not like this?Premier Zhou Enlai once said: There are no permanent friends, only permanent interests.Therefore, we believe that safeguarding the common interests of China and the United States is not only beneficial to the people of China and the United States, but also contributes to the development of the world.