Ian Buruma explains why Deng Xiaoping had been able to get away with the Tienanmen massacre on June 4-5 1989. He was responsible for sending 200,000 troops to crush the unarmed protesters, and insisted on restoring order, saying: “Anarchy gets worse every day. If this continues, we could even end up under house arrest.” The ageing leaders were told that CIA agents were active in Tiananmen Square, according to secret documents published in the US.

Deng’s paranoia prevailed over more moderate voices. His brutal crackdown led to a fierce power struggle, with Jiang Zemin – who later became president – being chosen to lead the Communist Party. Deng’s heavy-handedness did overshadow his legacy. But not for long. Thanks to his economic reform, China embarked on a path of double-digit growth and ended its isolation. People heeded his advice to get rich and forget the past.

The author says, what emerged “intact” after June 1989 was not communism, but Deng’s pragmatic adaptation of authoritarian rule and entrepreneurship. Many autocrats across the globe have been impressed by the success of this obscene combination of crony capitalism and Stalinist rule. They see the Chinese version of “authoritarian capitalism” as an alternative to modern market-oriented democracies with their cumbersome checks and balances.

That today’s leaders, especially Xi Jinping, are nostalgic for the Maoist era may have Deng to thank for. It helped when the “Father” of China’s miraculous growth declared that Mao’s “contributions to the Chinese far outweigh his mistakes.” Although Deng himself was twice purged by Mao, he made a comeback after the chairman’s death, ruling China for more than a decade, and helping undo some of the disastrous reforms of Mao’s Great Leap Forward.

He could claim victory for transforming China from an impoverished country of giant agricultural communes, inefficient state industries and bureaucratic barriers to trade and investment into an economic power-house that became the world’s second largest economy in 2011, lifting hundreds of millions out of poverty. His policy of opening the country to the outside world, building diplomatic ties and backing economic reforms was dutifully implemented by successive leaders, until Xi came and changed the formula.

Deng was famous for his pragmatism. He once said: "I don't care if the cat is black or white, so long as it catches mice.” Unfortunately the current leadership under Xi in Beijing is ideologically so rigid, that admitting mistakes and making concessions are seen as weakness.