Computer wizardry produces animated performance from Deng

Late paramount leader Deng Xiaoping is to be resurrected in a computer animation, performing tai chi and playing with a black-and-white cat.

The three-minute animation is to be broadcast on as-yet unnamed mainland and local television channels on February 19 to mark the fifth anniversary of Deng's death.

It will feature a computer-simulated Deng dressed in a Mao suit doing a series of tai chi moves in a dimly lit room.

It will also include a young Deng, dressed in Western-style clothing, playing with a cat to background music from 1920s France.

His famous line: 'A cat that catches mice is good, regardless of whether it is white or black,' will be featured.

The dictum was taken by political commentators as a mark of Deng's pragmatism as he embarked China on its course of economic reform.

The animation project is the first to feature the late Chinese leader.