Nelson Mandela's Truth and Reconciliation Commission and Chairman Deng Xiaoping's national transformative approaches stand out as a way out of grave political crisis. Despite enduring 27 years of solitary confinement, Mandela set personal grievance aside and embarked on national reconciliation to heal wounds and help South Africa move.

Chairman Deng Xiaoping, too, inherited confusion and discord following the demise of the republic's founding father — Mao Zedong. In both cases, the mission was to heal, repair and pave the way for a better, inclusive future.

Few national transformations in the 20th century rival the scale and speed of China's shift after 1978. In Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China, Ezra Vogel documented how economic pragmatism, ideological flexibility and a willingness to experiment propelled China into unprecedented growth. But beneath the headline narrative of reforms lies an equally important story: Deng's political management. In a system ravaged by factionalism, Cultural Revolution scars and ideological rigidity, Deng advanced radical reforms while keeping the Communist Party intact. This was a product of deliberate strategy, calibrated pressure, and an instinct for compromise.

Deng's central insight was that long-term economic transformation required political stability — not democratisation, but elite unity, predictable governance and an end to revolutionary chaos. After Mao's death, China's political class was fragmented among radicals (the remnants of the Gang of Four), conservative ideologues (such as Hua Guofeng), rehabilitated technocrats and the military hierarchy.........

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