Deng Xiaoping

(1902-97) Chinese leader. After studying in Paris, where he joined the Chinese Communist Party, he accompanied Mao Zedong on the Long March during the Chinese civil war. In 1954 he became secretary-general of the Party but opposed Mao's policies for the Great Leap Forward. Disgraced during the Cultural Revolution, he returned to serve under premier Zhou Enlai. He fell into disfavor again in 1976 but Mao soon died and Deng became deputy chairman of the party (1977). Officially retired in 1987, he remained China's supreme leader, overseeing economic reforms and a markedly friendly relationship with the United States. His reputation was sullied by the Tiananmen Square massacre of students in Beijing in June 1989.