FILE - In this Oct. 13, 1988 file phto, Chinese senior leader Deng Xiaoping is seen in Beijing. After authorizing the military crackdown that ended the 1989 Tiananmen Square democracy movement with untold deaths, paramount leader Deng was shown on state television congratulating martial law troops on June 9. Then he stayed out of the public eye for more than three months. Deng, 85 at the time, had retired from most of his positions but was still regarded as the pre-eminent power in a party wracked by divisions. His disappearance triggered reports that he was ill or near death. He resurfaced in September looking tan and healthy as he met a Nobel Prize-winning Chinese American physicist. During his absence, he met in secret with an envoy sent by U.S. President George H. W. Bush to stabilize U.S.-China ties. Deng died in 1997 at the age of 92. (AP Photo/File)