On behalf of the Government, I wish to express our deepest sympathy to the people of China on the death of Deng Xiaoping. He will be remembered as the leader who oversaw the development of the world's most populous country from feudalism to a fully fledged modern economy. His decision to open his country to the outside world has led China to occupy a major position on the world stage. He lived through almost an entire century of turmoil and remarkable change in China, driving forward its economic reform programme and improving dramatically living standards for its people. He leaves behind a formidable legacy and a daunting challenge to his successors.
Death of Chinese Leader: Expressions of Sympathy.
I join the Taoiseach in expressing my condolences to the Chinese Government on the death of Deng Xiaoping who was one of the architects of modern China. A companion of Chairman Mao on the long march, he served the Chinese revolution even though later he sometimes fell out of favour. As Mao's successor and ruler of China, his great service was to open up and modernise the Chinese economy and to expose it to international trade and investment. Ireland values highly its important trading relations with China, which is the most heavily populated country in the world, and looks forward to its future growth. Deng also defused tensions with other countries so that China continued to become a positive factor for world peace.
No one should underestimate the enormous difficulty of both governing and feeding a huge population of over one billion people and of maintaining a cohesive society. Nevertheless, I hope Deng Xiaoping's successor will be able to carry the process of liberalisation a step further to include political democracy and a deeper respect for the national, cultural and religious rights of separate peoples governed by China, such as Tibet, and with regard to human rights in his own country, never allow incidents, such as those which occurred at Tiananmen Square, to happen again.
Deng died on the eve of the return of Hong Kong to China. We have valuable trading links with Hong Kong where there is a significant Irish population. I hope the transition takes place peacefully and smoothly, and that the traditions and experience of Hong Kong will have a quietly beneficial effect on the future peaceful evolution of China which poses formidable challenges to its future rulers. I look forward to the further integration of China into the international community under Deng's successors.
I, too, join the Taoiseach and Deputy Ahern in paying tribute to the memory of the senior Chinese leader, Deng Xiaoping, who died yesterday and to express our sympathy to his family, the people of China and, indeed, the Chinese community in Ireland.
Deng, more than anybody else, was responsible for introducing and carrying through those reforms in 1978 which set China on the road to economic modernisation and helped transform that country into a modern socialist state with Chinese characteristics. The whole world recognised how remarkable those economic achievements have been.
China was fortunate to have a man of such courage and leadership to guide it through the recent decades. Now that the period of China under Deng has finally come to an end, we offer our best wishes to those who will succeed him in the awesome task of leading the People's Republic of China into the 21st century.
I wish to join, on behalf of the Progressive Democrats, in the expression of sympathy on the death of Deng Xiaoping. He made a very major contribution to the development, and particularly the economic transformation, of modern China. It was a matter of regret to me and to many that the economic evolution and development of China's affairs was not mirrored in the development of political or human rights. At this time we should not forget the incident at Tiananmen Square and, in particular, that the independent country Tibet continues to be occupied by China and its people harassed and deprived of their basic human rights. I hope after Mr. Deng's death it will be possible for China to continue its economic development, particularly with the accession of Hong Kong later this year, and that side by side with its economic development we will see a development in its respect for human rights and the rights for minority peoples under Chinese control.
On behalf of Democratic Left I join the other party leaders in this House in expressing my deepest sympathy to the Chinese people on the death of Deng Xiaoping. He was a major figure in the politics of China stretching back to the long march, but he came into his own about two decades ago after the death of Mao Zedong when he helped guide China through a dramatic transformation, both politically and economically. I hope, as others do, that continued transformation will be enabled under new leadership, in particular, the transformation of and reintegration of Hong Kong into China, which I hope will proceed in a peaceful way.
Members rose in their places.