Brzezinski: Deng Xiaoping Ranks Among the Best

PLA Daily 2004-08-10

　 　  Dr. Zbigniew Brzezinski first met Deng Xiaoping, then Chinese vice premier, in Beijing in May 1978. Dr. Brzezinski said the purpose of his mission was to set a process in motion with the intention of establishing normal diplomatic relations.

　　"Deng Xiaoping and I made a secret agreement to conduct intense negotiations on the subject. And these negotiations were successful by the end of the year with the announcement on Dec. 15 1978 that diplomatic relations between the United States and the People's Republic of China will be established."

　　Dr. Brzezinski's first meeting with Deng Xiaoping and their discussions made a deep impression on him.

　　"He was extremely intelligent, very quick in the discussion, but also very strategically-minded with a keen awareness of the mutual benefits of a closer American-Chinese collaboration against Soviet hegemonism."

　　Dr. Brzezinski says, besides the intense discussions, there were quite a few light moments in his first meeting with Deng Xiaoping.

　　"He took me to dinner the first night we met. And we had a wonderful discussion about history, about his student days in France, and about the Long March."

　　During the dinner, Dr. Brzezinski also extended an invitation.

　　"I told him that if he came to America, I would invite him to dinner to my house. And when he came to America the first night, he and his wife came to my house for a private dinner."

　　Dr. Brzezinski says they discussed many subjects during the dinner at his house, including Vietnam and the Soviet Union. Deng Xiaoping told him about his experiences during the Cultural Revolution and what happened to him and his family. Later they again met at the White House.

　　"I participated in the private meeting with President Carter in which we discussed some very sensitive issues involving various forms of very important American-Chinese collaboration on some special projects."

　　In July 1981, months after Dr. Brzezinski left the White House, Deng Xiaoping invited him to visit China again.

　　"My family and I including my young children retraced along portions of the Long March near the Dadu River and in that region. And I then again met with him and we'd a long discussion of his experiences."

　　Dr. Brzezinski says he visited China many times in the 1980s and 90s. In 1984, they again met in Beijing and Deng Xiaoping used the occasion to publicly announce the "One Country, Two Systems" formula, which later helped the return of Hong Kong and Macao to China.

　　When asked to compare Deng Xiaoping with the many other world leaders he met, Dr. Brzezinski has this to say: "Deng Xiaoping ranks among the best."

　　Li Yongjing, CRI News, Washington