DUBLIN - Deng Xiaoping's record on human rights was sharply attacked by the PD spokesman on foreign affairs, as the Dail paid tribute to the former Chinese leader. Mr Desmond O'Malley said that Deng Xiaoping had certainly made a very major contribution to the development of the modern China, particularly its economic transformation.
He hoped, be said, that after Deng Xiaoping's death it would be possible for China to continue its economic development, particularly with the accession of Hong Kong later this year. But side by side with this, he hoped there would be a development in its respect for human rights and the rights of minority peoples under Chinese control.
Earlier, the Taoiseach said that Deng would be remembered as the leader who oversaw the development of the world's most populist 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," Mr Bruton added. "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."
The Fianna Fail leader, Mr Bertie Ahern said that Deng Xiaoping was one of the architects of modem China, a g that his great service was to open up and modernise the Chinese economy.
The Green MEP Ms Patricia McKenna criticised the Government for paying an "unqualified tribute" to Deng, a person who had a "callous attitude to human rights". Deng was the man who ordered the shooting of hundreds of students in Tiananmen Square, who fiercely defended the occupation of Tibet and who imprisoned dissidents, she observed.