Commentary/E M S Namboodiripad

What Deng could do in China need not happen in other countries

I met Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping, who passed away in Beijing on February 18, four times. The first time I met him was as a representative of the undivided Communist Party in 1956. The Chinese party chairman then was Mao Zedong, the prime minister Zhou-en Lai. Deng was fourth in the party hierarchy. I heard him speak at the eighth congress of the Communist Party. I couldn't speak to him on that occasion.

Our second meeting was in 1960 at Moscow, where Deng sharply criticised Nikita Khrushchev's policies. I finally got a chance to speak to Deng at our third meeting. He discussed the financial policies he had introduced in China. He was highly critical of the financial policies prevalent not only in China but also in Russia. His main stress then was on the multinational attempt to defeat the socialist movement. Deng had been successful in containing this move and giving more control to a governing system with participation of the people. The help of capitalist countries was needed to implement socialism in China.

Deng was aware that when he sought the help of capitalist countries the economic system would also be capitalist. But Deng was not digressing from the socialist pattern of Lenin who taught us the need to seek the help of capitalist forces. It was in 1978 that Deng shaped the policy of befriending capitalist countries. He talked to me about this when I met him a fourth time.

We visited several parts of China to understand the impact of this policy. Our visit helped us understand that the policy was working well. I must give full credit to Deng for introducing this modern concept which brought prosperity to China.

A question that arises at this stage is whether Deng's initiatives were not capitalist in its basic concept. The same question was also posed to Lenin. Lenin suggested exclusion of the capitalist elements in order to make the socialist movement work. China is a backward country. Help from outside is essential for its growth. But Deng saw to it that the capitalist elements did not hinder the labour system. Everything that was implemented in China was done under labour's control.

However, a minority in China tried to bring in a capitalist system. The Tiananmen incidents were part of this movement. I would like to point out that the socialist movement is still in the state of an experiment. Errors are possible on the way to the ultimate goal. Deng could correct these errors. What Deng could in China need not happen in other countries. Basically, the policies will have to correspond to the needs of each region.

In China there is a strong party and government capable of correcting errors and driving the country onto the path of socialism. I think India also can do this. There is no need for repeating what China has done. Depending on the circumstances in the country we can make our own policies and have our own socialist movement.

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