Deng Xiaoping

Deng Xiaoping (1904–97), Chinese Communist leader. A strategist during the civil war, he became vice premier of the People's Republic of China in 1952 and a member of the Communist Party Politburo in 1955. Purged during the Cultural Revolution in 1967, he was rehabilitated in 1973, then purged again in 1976 and rehabilitated in 1977, after the death of Mao Zedong. Since then he has been the central figure in the Chinese government, directing both foreign and domestic policy, often from behind the scenes.

See also: China.