Is Deng Dead?

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WASHINGTON, D.C.: Rumors are growing that Deng Xiaoping, China's 92-year-old paramount leader and the architect of China's economic reforms may be dying -- or may already be dead. While there have been no reliable reports on Dengs health status, U.S. officials paid the rumors more credence as President Jiang Zemin and Prime Minister Li Peng unexpectedly cut short countryside visits this weekend to return to Beijing. The Chinese government insisted on Tuesday that Deng's health was fairly good for a man of his years. "There has been no major change in Comrade Deng Xiaoping's health," assured one government spokesman. TIME's Douglas Waller notes that Jiang and Li may have returned to the capital to deal with the defection of North Korean official Hwang Jang Yop, currently ensconced in the South Korean embassy in Beijing. Waller notes that there is a more telling signal to watch for: "If his close relatives cut short trips, that's a clear sign that Deng has indeed died." It's unlikely that the government would keep Deng's death a secret, Waller says. While the government guards Deng's medical condition closely, Chinese custom is to announce deaths quickly. Waller adds that Deng, who has not been seen in public since 1994, has long since transferred power to other leaders and divested himself of all formal titles. U.S. officials hope that Secretary of State Madeleine Albright will get a better fix on the situation when she visits Beijing next Tuesday.