The Wider Environment
Interpreting the Year of the Pig
19/02/2007 17:20:09
But first, a memorial. The lunar New Year falls on the tenth anniversary of the death of Deng Xiaoping. His legacy for China is appreciated here:
…David Zweig, a China expert at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, said: “Here is a guy who opened up the country and put it on course to where it will be one of the two world powers of the 21st century. That’s an incredibly strong legacy. He was a gutsy guy.”
Deng himself was open to beneficial foreign influences:
...despite his role in reshaping the nation, the memorials for Deng today, the tenth anniversary of his death, are likely to be as low-key as the man himself.
His daughter reminisces about a father who was restrained, almost taciturn, but who loved to invite his grandchildren into his office to watch Tom and Jerry cartoons after school.
The world can expect a roller-coaster ride of conflict and unrest, natural disasters and a plunge in global stock markets once the Year of the Pig begins, Chinese soothsayers say.
Are they predicting the future or just reading the newspapers?