Professor Ezra Vogel Presents "Deng Xiaoping’s Reform and Opening-Up Policy"
Distinguished China scholar Professor Ezra Vogel delivered a special lecture on April 2, at the invitation of SYSBS and the SYSU China Center for Service Sector Research. Prof. Vogel's presentation on the topic of “Deng Xiaoping’s Reform and Opening-Up Policy” was held at the International Conference Hall of SYSBS to accommodate the expected audience. Several hundred faculty members and students were in attendance, attracted by the reputation and publications of this international guru from Harvard University.
Though now in his eighties, Prof. Vogel appeared hale and hearty. He charmed the audience with his wit and humor as he delivered a retrospective on the writing of his book Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China (2011).
After he retired from teaching at Harvard in 2000, Prof. Vogel set out to write a book on Deng Xiaoping, and on the era of Deng's economic and political reforms. With a stated goal of helping Americans to better understand China. In particular, Prof. Vogel positions Deng as the leader who made the greatest impact on China’s modernization. Thus, Prof. Vogel selected Deng as the perfect “spokesman” for that span of history. Moreover, because Prof. Vogel believes Sino-US relations to be the vital factor for world peace in the 21st century, he emphasizes the continuing influence of the reforms Deng set in place.
“As a foreigner, I had three unique advantages in writing about Deng. First, a bystander is always clear-minded. I could value the issues in China from an objective viewpoint. Second, I could access more materials and information than the domestic scholars could. Third, as a Harvard scholar, I could reach those who had contact with Deng. So actually I was no more than a tuft-hunter,” laughed Prof. Vogel.
After a decade of research and writing, Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China was published in 2011. More than 500,000 copies of the Chinese translation of the book have been sold in mainland China since its issuance in January of this year.
Prof. Vogel Lecturing on Deng Xiaoping’s Reform and Opening-Up Policy
The historical points of the lecture were underscored by a series of vintage photographs that recorded Deng in different phases of his political career. In 1957, for instance, Chairman Mao Zedong made his second visit to the Soviet Union, this time accompanied by Deng. In a conversation with Nikita Khrushchev, who was then leader of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Mao amiably referred to the 53-year-old Deng as “the boy”, and remarked that “the boy” was competent and promising. Prof. Vogel explained, “We can tell from here that Deng was regarded as a successor at that time.”
In an example from 1963, Prof. Vogel cited the Sino-Soviet debate, which was at an intense stage. Deng was designated to represent China in bilateral talks in Moscow, and after standing his ground in the debate, Deng emerged a “heavyweight boxer” in the eyes of Khrushchev. Upon his return, Deng was met at the airport by Mao. Only twice before had Mao personally received the Chinese delegations at the airport, and this reception was the most remarkable of the three.
In another photograph, taken during his 1979 visit to the United States, Deng is wearing a cowboy hat that he had been given in Texas. This historic moment marked a turning point, when Americans began to reconsider their opinion about Deng and the potential for a cooperative relationship between the two nations.
Deng Xiaoping Wearing a Cowboy Hat
To end his lecture, Prof. Vogel summarized the importance of Deng, particularly to the Chinese people: “Deng’s policy enlightens us in the following three ways — first, to cooperate with other countries, second, to learn from the world about reform and opening-up, and third, to cultivate capable human resources.”
In the Q&A session, Prof. Vogel voiced his intention that he would ask students to take his turn to write about other historical celebrities.
