Editing Deng Xiaoping (section)

== Resignation and 1992 southern tour ==
{{main|Deng Xiaoping's southern tour}}
[[File:DengXiaoPingNanXunJunJian.jpg|thumb|A patrol boat that was used on Deng Xiaoping's southern tour]]
Officially, Deng decided to retire from top positions when he stepped down as Chairman of the [[Central Military Commission (China)|Central Military Commission]] in November 1989 and his successor Jiang Zemin became the new [[Chairman of the Central Military Commission (China)|Chairman of the Central Military Commission]] and [[paramount leader]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Faison |first=Seth |date=20 February 1997 |title=Deng Xiaoping Is Dead at 92; Architect of Modern China |language=en-US |page=A1 |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/02/20/world/deng-xiaoping-is-dead-at-92-architect-of-modern-china.html |url-status=live |access-date=27 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170123203613/http://www.nytimes.com/1997/02/20/world/deng-xiaoping-is-dead-at-92-architect-of-modern-china.html |archive-date=23 January 2017 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Denmark |first=Abraham |date=19 December 2018 |title=Analysis {{!}} 40 years ago, Deng Xiaoping changed China—and the world |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2018/12/19/40-years-ago-deng-xiaoping-changed-china-and-the-world/ |url-status=live |access-date=27 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190508043643/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2018/12/19/40-years-ago-deng-xiaoping-changed-china-and-the-world/ |archive-date=8 May 2019}}</ref> China, however, was still in the ''era of Deng Xiaoping''. He continued to be widely regarded as the ''de facto'' leader of the country, believed to have backroom control despite no official position apart from being chairman of the Chinese [[Contract bridge|Contract Bridge]] Association,<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/asia_pac/02/china_party_congress/china_ruling_party/how_china_is_ruled/html/party_elders.stm How China is ruled] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170911112006/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/asia_pac/02/china_party_congress/china_ruling_party/how_china_is_ruled/html/party_elders.stm |date=11 September 2017}}, BBC 2003.</ref> and appointed [[Hu Jintao]] as Jiang's successor at the [[14th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party|14th Party Congress]] in 1992.{{according to whom|date=August 2020}} Deng was recognized officially as "the chief architect of China's economic reforms and China's socialist modernization". To the Communist Party, he was believed to have set a good example for communist cadres who refused to retire at old age. He broke earlier conventions of holding offices for life. He was often referred to as simply ''Comrade Xiaoping'', with no title attached.

Because of the [[1989 Tiananmen Square protests]], Deng's power had been significantly weakened and there was a growing formalist faction opposed to Deng's reforms within the Communist Party. To reassert his economic agenda, in the spring of 1992, Deng made a tour of southern China, visiting [[Guangzhou]], [[Shenzhen]], [[Zhuhai]] and spending the New Year in Shanghai, using his travels as a method of reasserting his economic policy after his retirement from office.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Fisher |first=Max |date=2 June 2014 |title=This 1989 speech is one of China's most important |url=https://www.vox.com/2014/6/2/5772016/this-1989-speech-is-one-of-the-most-important-in-chinas-history-and |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190727204832/https://www.vox.com/2014/6/2/5772016/this-1989-speech-is-one-of-the-most-important-in-chinas-history-and |archive-date=27 July 2019 |access-date=27 July 2019 |website=Vox}}</ref><ref name="SuishengZhao">{{Cite journal |last=Zhao |first=Suisheng |author-link=Suisheng Zhao |date=1993 |title=Deng Xiaoping's Southern Tour: Elite Politics in Post-Tiananmen China |journal=Asian Survey |volume=33 |issue=8 |pages=739–756 |doi=10.2307/2645086 |issn=0004-4687 |jstor=2645086}}</ref> He said "Some people slander our socialist system as the Qin system, which is vexatious! Our system is not totalitarian, but democratic centralism. During the period of Chairman Mao, it was not the Qin system, but also democratic centralism. I would say that it is more like the system of France."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ebook.dswxyjy.org.cn/storage/files/20220801/21755a99b032fbbb16115b11d359783057035/mobile/index.html|title=邓小平文选（第三卷）|website=ebook.dswxyjy.org.cn}}</ref> The 1992 Southern Tour is widely regarded as a critical point in the [[History of the People's Republic of China|modern history of China]], as it saved the [[Chinese economic reform]] and preserved the stability of the society.<ref name=":32">{{Cite web |date=2009 |title=Deng Xiaoping's Southern Tour |url=http://chinaconnectu.com/wp-content/pdf/DengXiaopingsSouthernTour.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170517044420/http://chinaconnectu.com/wp-content/pdf/DengXiaopingsSouthernTour.pdf |archive-date=17 May 2017 |access-date=1 May 2020 |website=Berkshire Publishing Group LLC}}</ref><ref name=":12">{{Cite web |last=Ma |first=Damien |date=23 January 2012 |title=After 20 Years of 'Peaceful Evolution,' China Faces Another Historic Moment |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/01/after-20-years-of-peaceful-evolution-china-faces-another-historic-moment/251764/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190816112722/https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/01/after-20-years-of-peaceful-evolution-china-faces-another-historic-moment/251764/ |archive-date=16 August 2019 |access-date=1 May 2020 |website=The Atlantic |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=21 August 2014 |title='How my father's speeches saved Chinese economic reform': Deng Xiaoping's daughter pays tribute |url=https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1578453/how-my-fathers-speeches-saved-chinese-economic-reform-deng-xiaopings |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803081210/https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1578453/how-my-fathers-speeches-saved-chinese-economic-reform-deng-xiaopings |archive-date=3 August 2020 |access-date=1 May 2020 |website=South China Morning Post}}</ref><ref name=":22">{{Cite news |date=18 December 2008 |title=The great pragmatist: Deng Xiaoping |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2008/dec/18/globaleconomy-economics |url-status=live |access-date=1 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200502094413/https://www.theguardian.com/business/2008/dec/18/globaleconomy-economics |archive-date=2 May 2020 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Zhao |first=Suisheng |date=1993 |title=Deng Xiaoping's Southern Tour: Elite Politics in Post-Tiananmen China |journal=Asian Survey |volume=33 |issue=8 |pages=739–756 |doi=10.2307/2645086 |issn=0004-4687 |jstor=2645086}}</ref>

Deng's health deteriorated drastically after 1994. In January 1995, Deng's daughter told the press that "A year ago, he could walk for 30 minutes twice a day, but now he cannot walk … He needs two people to support him."<ref name="Tampa Bay Times 1995 k697">{{cite web | title=Health of China's Deng worsens | website=Tampa Bay Times | date=14 January 1995 | url=https://www.tampabay.com/archive/1995/01/14/health-of-china-s-deng-worsens/?outputType=amp | access-date=30 November 2023 | archive-date=2 December 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231202170359/https://www.tampabay.com/archive/1995/01/14/health-of-china-s-deng-worsens/?outputType=amp | url-status=live }}</ref> It was also reported that Parkinson's experts were sent to Beijing to help him in 1995.<ref name="South China Morning Post 1995 b711">{{cite web | title=Parkinson's experts sent to help Deng | website=South China Morning Post | date=26 January 1995 | url=https://www.scmp.com/article/104772/parkinsons-experts-sent-help-deng | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231130174822/https://www.scmp.com/article/104772/parkinsons-experts-sent-help-deng | archive-date=30 November 2023 | url-status=live | access-date=30 November 2023}}</ref> Deng generally preferred not to directly speak of dying, instead describing himself as "going to see the Premier", meaning Zhou Enlai.<ref name=":11" />{{Rp|page=118}}