Ray Van Eng (02/21/97)
Many head of states from around the world including the U.S., Japan, Germany, France, Taiwan, South Korea, England, New Zealand took the opportunity to pay tribute to the Chinese patriarch leader. Most have expressed sadness and praised Deng's achievement in modernizing China in the last twenty years. President Clinton called Deng an "extraordinary figure on the world stage over the past two decades." Deng will be credited as the first Chinese leader in almost 200 years to open up his country to economic reform which has lead the rest of the world to recognize China as a global superpower and a nation of 1.2 billion people with unlimited market opportunities. Deng was the first Chinese leader to visit the United States in 1978. However, for some, he will also be remembered as the one who unceremoniously crashed the student's democratic movement at Tiananmen Square on June 04, 1989, killing hundreds of civilians in the process. An official funeral service will be held on 02/25/97 in Beijing following a six day mourning period. His ashes will be scatterd into the sea, his family says. |
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