Anyone who wants to understand modern China must understand one of the most influential statesmen of the 21st century: Deng Xiaoping. He set in motion the changes that turned China into the second largest economy in the world. At the same time he was in charge when tanks rolled into Tiananmen Square on June 4th 1989. What made Mao’s devoted follower into the capitalist with Chinese characteristics? Did Deng have a vision for China? Why did he open China economically, but barred political changes? Is Deng’s legacy a curse or a blessing for today’s China?

Friday, August 22, 2:30pm – 4:00pm
“Deng’s Legacy in Today’s China” 
Ezra F. Vogel, Professor, Harvard University
Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China
Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands | 80 RMB | Open to Public | Bring Passport or Another Photo ID | Registration
 
Anyone who wants to understand modern China must understand one of the most influential statesmen of the 21st century: Deng Xiaoping. He set in motion the changes that turned China into the second largest economy in the world. At the same time he was in charge when tanks rolled into Tiananmen Square on June 4th 1989. What made Mao’s devoted follower into the capitalist with Chinese characteristics? Did Deng have a vision for China? Why did he open China economically, but barred political changes? Is Deng’s legacy a curse or a blessing for today’s China?
 
Ezra F. Vogel is the Henry Ford II Professor of the Social Sciences Emeritus at Harvard. After graduating from Ohio Wesleyan in 1950 and serving two years in the U.S. Army, he studied sociology in the Department of Social Relations at Harvard, receiving his Ph.D. in 1958. He then went to Japan for two years to study the Japanese language and conduct research interviews with middle-class families.
 
After a stint at Yale University he returned to Harvard in 1961, remaining there until his retirement from teaching in 2000. He completed his book, Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China, in 2011. Professor Vogel has served as Director of Harvard’s East Asian Research Center and Chairman of the Council for East Asian Studies, as well as Director of the Program on U.S.-Japan Relations at the Center for International Affairs. He was Director of the Fairbank Center and of the Asia Center. At Harvard he taught courses on Japanese and Chinese society and for many years a Core Curriculum course, Industrial East Asia. From 1993 to 1995, he took a two-year leave of absence from Harvard to serve as the National Intelligence Officer for East Asia.
 
He is the author of several books on Japan and has researched economic reforms in Guangdong. He was the only Western scholar to receive the 2103 China Special Book Award from the China State Administration of Publication, Press, Radio, Film and Television.
 
To register, please click here.