BEIJING : An Old Friend?
The question of the week in Beijing is whether Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping, who has not made a public appearance for months, will emerge from his seclusion to greet visiting Margaret Thatcher, the former British prime minister.
While ostensibly retired, the powerful Deng, 87, stays out of sight in part to give the impression that younger men are running China. Though he has said he will no longer represent Beijing in hosting foreign dignitaries, he has said he may occasionally meet “old friends.”
If Thatcher--who was in office at the time an accord was signed giving China sovereignty over Hong Kong again in 1997--qualifies as an old friend, and Deng does appear, observers will be watching for signs of his latest political thinking.
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