STRESSING the "irreversibility" of China's reform process, the President of the European Commission, Mr Jacques Santer, yesterday paid warm tribute to the "immense" contribution of Deng Xiaoping which he said would be remembered into the next millennium.
Deng's death comes at a time when the EU's relationship with China has been improving steadily, albeit slowly. Foreign Ministers on Monday are likely to back a Dutch proposal to put down a motion at the UN's Commission of Human Rights in Geneva in March deploring China's human rights record. The death of the Chinese leader is unlikely to stop the move, sources say, despite reservations from Germany, France and Italy.
Determined, however, not to lose out on the scramble for the huge Chinese market the Trade Commissioner, Sir Leon Brittan, has argued for constructive engagement with China making the case that trade is more likely to move the Chinese than isolation.
The Commission canvassed US support for the resolution from the Secretary of State, Ms Madeleine Albright, when she was in Brussels on Tuesday. But Commission sources say they are not sure the US will co-sponsor the resolution. Irish diplomatic sources emphasise the need for a twin-track approach of preparing the US resolution while continuing to engage the Chinese in discussion.
EU relations with China have also been strained over the latter's accession to the World Trade Organisation (WTO), but these obstacles are largely technical.
Sir Leon, on a visit to Beijing in November, was given a strong impression by the country's economic supremo, Mr Zhu Rongji, that China was determined to relaunch its WTO bid and understood European objections. Delegations from the EU and US have been back in the country last month exploring the issue further.
Mr Santer's statement yesterday said: "The mark Deng Xiaoping has made on the 20th century shall be remembered by the whole world well into the 21st. Deng's lead made an immense contribution to modernisation and economic reform in China, and to opening up the country to the rest of the world.
"He has set in train a process of market reform which have now become irreversible. This has enabled Europe and China to build up a flourishing relationship in trade and services and to begin the process of deepening political ties.
"I'm confident Deng's heritage will live on in a self-sustaining development of economic and social freedom which will benefit not only all the people of China but the partners in the region and the wider world.
"Political openness in the future will boost China's role as a force for peace and stability in Asia and beyond."
