Patriarch 'still at top'

PATRIARCH Deng Xiaoping may be officially retired but he still ranks as a central leader of the Communist Party, his son, Deng Pufang, inadvertently revealed yesterday.

Asked at a press conference if his father would be attending any of the ceremonies at the forthcoming Far East and South Pacific Disabled Persons Games in Beijing, Mr Deng said: ''The time has not yet come to issue invitations to central leadcording to official reports has been leading a life of relatively quiet retirement since.

It is an open secret, however, that Mr Deng still retains considerable influence over party policy and his son's comments yesterday clearly showed he was still regarded as a key member of the central leadership.

Mr Deng Pufang also dismissed reports that his father was seriously ill and had been in hospital, saying he was still in ''very good health''.

''I deeply regret that these rumours [about Deng Xiaoping's health] have been circulating recently,'' he said.

Mr Deng Pufang did not go as far as his sisters and claim that his father managed to walk three kilometres a day but he did say that as the weather in Beijing improved his father would be taking leisurely walks outdoors.