Posted: 08/25/2014 1:02 pm EDT Updated: 08/25/2014 3:59 pm EDT
DENG XIAOPING MIKHAIL GORBACHEV
Distributed by the Guancha Syndicate
SHANGHAI — August 22 marked the anniversary of Deng Xiaoping’s birth 110 years go. Though it has been 17 years since he left us, his eyes, sharp and deep, remain vivid in my memory. Though his demeanor was that of a calm and gentle old man, his determined gaze betrayed a will as hard as iron — a will that has shaped an entire nation.
As an interpreter for Deng and other senior Chinese leaders in the 1980s, I was fortunate to have had the opportunities to be in touch with this great statesman at close range.
Deng with Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci
Deng was a true character with a famously blunt and direct manner. When he received Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci in 1980, they spoke for hours and she asked very tough questions. During a break, Deng asked her: “Do you also speak to your father like this?” Fallaci said yes. “Doesn’t your father give you a slap on your face?” Deng asked, laughing. The combative Fallaci was clearly impressed with her combative subject who spoke so candidly on and off the record.
I also observed Deng in his meetings with foreign leaders, including Kim Il-sung from North Korea, Robert Mugabe from Zimbabwe, Mikhail Gorbachev from the Soviet Union and Jerry Rawlings from Ghana.