Deng Xiaoping

Source date: 21 December 1988. Conversation with Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on a new international order. Editorial overview.

Deng challenges the assumption that an Asian century will arrive automatically. In his argument, regional success cannot be meaningful without the development of China, India and their neighbours. Development is a responsibility towards humanity, not merely a contest for national prestige.

He proposes that political and economic reform of the international order advance together. The Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence should guide relations, beginning with how China and India treat each other and neighbouring states.

The conversation connects domestic transformation, cooperation among developing countries and resistance to bloc politics. It is particularly useful for studying an international order that accommodates different systems. Deng's argument requires states to demonstrate their principles in actual relations, rather than merely recommending them to others.

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