Deng Xiaoping Makes a Rare Public Showing

Deng Xiaoping, China’s paramount leader, made a rare public appearance this week in the coastal city of Shenzhen, China’s economic success story. He cruised an amusement park in a golf cart and caught the view from a revolving restaurant atop a skyscraper.

It was the first public appearance since last February for Deng, 87, and touched off speculation on its purpose.

“The trip means he’s OK, he can travel. He’s trying to reassure people,” said one Beijing-based Western diplomat.

Some analysts said that by visiting Shenzhen, Deng highlighted his government’s commitment to creating a market economy, telling the world that China is ready to radicalize its already successful economic reform program and open further to the West.

Shenzhen is an all-but-capitalist city in southern China where Hong Kong dollars, not Chinese yuan, are the preferred currency. It borders Hong Kong and boasts China’s highest annual per capita income, $2,500.

Deng arrived in Shenzhen on Sunday. Chinese-language papers in Hong Kong splashed the news on their front pages.