Phone Hacking: Wendi Deng - from Communist obscurity to top of capitalist heap 9
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Rebekah Brooks, who began life as a secretary, may have thought she had done well working her way into the affections of Rupert Murdoch. '{JMWNY
But her achievements are as nothing compared to his third wife Wendi Deng. J$jLGy& '
She has catapulted herself from the anonymity and austerity of communist China to the family - and now the family trust - of one of the world's most powerful and wealthy men. Td^62D;
Along the way she appears to have exhibited the kind of drive and ruthlessness that even her husband must be proud of. sKiy1Ww
Born Deng Wen Di, she grew up in the obscure eastern Chinese city of Xuzhou, the daughter of an engineer who eventually rose to be the director of a machinery factory. l_
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At school, she was a "good student" and "champion volley ball player" who enrolled at Guangzhou medical college at the age of 16. V~o'L#a
But she always dreamt of a life in the USA. 8BS Nm
In 1987 she gained her "ticket out of China" when she met an American couple from Los Angeles, Jake and Joyce Cherry. Z$Qwn
Mrs Cherry, whose husband was building a factory in China, agreed to teach Ms Deng English. :N<o<