Word: deng
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...legendary "foolish old man" who picked away at mountains that obstructed the view from his house. Because his diligence found favor in heaven's eyes, the "foolish" man finally moved the mountains. Faced with a conservative backlash that has blocked his political and economic reforms since January, Deng Xiaoping, the current master of China, appears to be writing his own version of Mao's parable. Deng has resolutely continued to chip at the mountainous obstacles to his reform program. As a result, reformers seem to have regained the upper hand and positioned themselves for further advances at a crucial Communist...
Through the winter and spring, the reformers had been balked by the doctrinaire Marxists, who were making a comeback after seven years of retreat in the face of Deng's reforms. The doctrinaire faction -- also known as conservatives and, even more confusingly, leftists -- blamed the reformers for last December's huge pro-democracy student demonstrations and launched a major campaign against "bourgeois liberalization." They vigorously attacked many of Deng's post-Mao changes, including greater artistic and press freedom and most moves toward capitalist-style economic reforms...
Late last year, when Deng himself moved toward acknowledging the criticism, the reform campaign began to run out of steam. He accepted the ouster of his protege, Hu Yaobang, from the important post of party General Secretary and slowed down measures to expand China's fledgling market economy. Debate on political reform, especially sensitive after the demonstrations, was shelved. With Deng apparently on their side, the conservatives pressed ahead with their campaign against capitalist thinking and Western influence...
Since then, however, the conservatives have been unable to devise economic proposals to replace Deng's reforms while still retaining China's newfound prosperity in the countryside and some urban centers. In April, Deng suddenly unbalanced his opponents when he told visiting dignitaries that the greatest danger to China came not only from complete Westernization but also from "leftist inertia...
Meanwhile, Deng shrewdly continued to groom his other protege, Premier Zhao Ziyang, who last January took on the discredited Hu's responsibilities as party General Secretary. At first, Zhao's official speeches outlined a delicate balance of power, with the conservatives dominating the political sphere and the reformists managing to keep control of the economy. With tacit encouragement from Deng, however, Zhao soon grew bolder. In April he faced down a conservative decision to bar a Chinese movie from overseas distribution. In late May the Premier denounced the conservatives' "ossified thinking," which he said endangered the livelihood of the people...