What would Deng Xiaoping say to the Chinese leaders today?

 During Deng's days of opening China and modernising China, China was still a poor and underdeveloped country when feeding the people was a primary concern, when rebuilding the country to be a strong economic and military power was still a very difficult task. When a country is poor and weak, it is best to keep a low profile, just work hard to be strong again. Deng was quoted to have told China, 'put your head down, stay away from trouble, and work hard.' That was a wise policy then, for a big stick would come hammering down China's head if China dared to raise its head. It was a self effacing policy but a necessary skill to survive in a world of gangsters and bullies that carried all the big sticks.

China survived those days by staying out of trouble and feverishly working to be rich and strong again. China has succeeded by remaining on the sideline of world politics and is today an equal to the world's number one superpower in everything, militarily, economically, financially, in technology and science.

What would Deng Xiaoping say to China today? Would he still tell China to put down its head and stay away from trouble when being bullied, and say sorry when being beaten? As a wise leader, Deng would no longer keep to the old policy of being a nobody, not to be seen, not to be heard. Deng was a strong nationalist, a patriotic Chinese and would want China not only be rich but also be strong, respectable and dignified, to stand as equals to everyone in the world.

Deng would not allow China to be bullied and kept quiet, bend its head, and hide under the table. Deng would likely be saying, 'Stand up and fight for your dignity.' There is no need for China to bend its head and be kicked around anymore, especially not by Mickey Mouse. Today's China is a superpower and many colonial powers of the past are just Micky Mouse, like UK, Germany, France, Japan etc etc. 

China has risen and in a different league from the Mickey Mouse. The Mickeys may still be deluded to live in the past, or to live in cartoons. The real world, the real China, is not to be kicked around even by the Americans. It would be a waste of effort for China to be what it is today, and to still be kicked around and bullied even by little Mickey Mouse. The only weapon the Americans and the West have to attack China is their media. Chinese leaders must not fear the western media and be told by western media how to behave to please them and continue to hide under the table when challenged by western media. They are just noises, to be ignored. Just do what is right and good in the interest of China.

It still brought me a lot of pain when I recalled a scroll written by Deng when he visited Singapore in 1978. 爱我中华，修我长城。That was past, a time when China was still very poor. Today, China is building ports, cities, highways, roads burrowing through the Himalayas, etc for countries all over the world. China have built more than 47,000 kilometres of high-speed rails, many modern cities. What is repairing the Great Wall to China today? The China today is rich, with more than US$3 trillion in reserves, the biggest reserves in the world. US$3 trillion is the GDP of the top 5th country in the world. How many countries have a GDP of even US$1 trillion? The GDP of many Mickey Mouse countries are in the low billions. 90% of the countries in the world have less than US$100 billion GDP. Even with a modest 3% interest rate, this US$3 trillion is growing at US$90 billion a year! 

The rejuvenated China demands a new policy befitting its new stature as a superpower.  There is no need to hide your strength, bend your head and run away from trouble. Deng would be turning in his grave if China is still behaving like the old, weak and poor China. There is a time to bend your head, there is a time to stand up and be recognised, as world leader. 

India has been screaming its voice hoarse that it is the leader of the Global South. Is China going to hide behind India and walk behind India in the world stage forever?