Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping met with then-British prime minister Margaret Thatcher in Beijing on Sept 24, 1982. Photo: Xinhua

In commemoration of late statesman Deng Xiaoping's 115th anniversary of his birthday, Chinese people on Thursday flooded social media with comments hailing Deng's insights on Hong Kong as protests in the city entered their 11th week. 

From Thursday morning, Chinese internet users reposted on China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo numerous quotes by Deng including "Sovereignty is not discussable," "China will never accept interference by other countries in its internal affairs" and "The criterion for the people of Hong Kong governing Hong Kong is that they must be composed of local people who love both the region and the motherland." 

A Weibo post by People's Daily was liked more than 152,969 times and shared more than 43,896 times as of press time. 

Deng proposed the "one country, two systems" principle in the 1980s in preparation for the return of Hong Kong, which became the principle for Hong Kong people to administer the city.  

Some netizens also posted lyrics to "Pearl of the Orient," a song, which includes "Please never forget my unwavering yellow face" to emphasize the close ties between Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland. 

The online wave was seen as mainland netizens' response to escalating protests in Hong Kong which have entered their 11th consecutive week. 

Fan Peng, a member of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macao Studies, told the Global Times on Thursday that Deng's quotes showed his foresight on potential challenges to "one country, two systems" given Hong Kong's special status and complicated social composition.  

In its 22nd year as a special administrative region of China, Hong Kong has overcome two major financial crises under the principle of "one country, two systems," Fan said.  

A Hong Kong resident surnamed Ng told the Global Times that the protests threatened social stability and the economy, but Ng in her 30s noted, the unrest was "an opportunity to expose and address social problems in Hong Kong." 

People around China held a variety of activities to commemorate Deng, who is also the chief architect of China's reform and opening-up. His quotes such as "Reform is the only way for China to develop its productive forces" and "It doesn't matter if a cat is black or white, so long as it catches mice" were remembered by tens of thousands. 

An exhibition of paintings, calligraphy and photographs inspired by Deng's life story was held from Tuesday to Thursday in Deng's hometown, Guang'an of Southwest China's Sichuan Province. 

Qingdao in East China's Shandong Province issued special envelopes to commemorate Deng, who inspected the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy stationed in the city in 1979.
Newspaper headline: Deng Xiaoping commemorated for legacy