Sir, - It is quite remarkable to read so much homage and praise for the Chinese leader, Deng Xiaoping. Mr Spring spoke of the "loss", Mr Major called him a visionary", Mr Chirac spoke of "his openness and reforms". President Clinton said Deng "had had a life of tribulation." Your own editorial referred to his "remarkable and highly significant achievement".
Let us pause for a moment to allow the stench of such false eulogies to pass. Deng Xiapong ordered the slaughter of hundreds, possibly thousands, of peaceful students in Tiananmen Square. He maintained China's brutal occupation of Tibet, where a peaceful nation has been tortured and executed en masse.
He imposed widespread sterilisation and forced abortion upon his people. He continued his country's ruthless suppression of political dissent and intellectualism, imprisoning millions in slave labour camps. His uncontrolled economic expansion has caused massive environmental destruction.
It would appear that his much praised economic reforms, while offering the smell of profit to the West, have created a collective amnesia amongst world leaders towards Deng's real legacy. They should save their eulogies for his countless victims, and welcome his long overdue demise. - Yours, etc.,
Richmond Road,
Portobello,
Dublin 8.