How Ezra Vogel strove to break down barriers

Most important book

Vogel wrote many books, but his work on Deng took him the longest－10 years－to complete. He read books about Deng, traveled to China numerous times and interviewed hundreds of influential Chinese figures and foreigners.

It was the most important book he had written, he said in the 2011 interview.

"Deng made more contributions to China than any other leader in the 20th century because he put the country on a path to the future," Vogel said, adding that he admired Deng personally.

"China was so lucky to have such a leader to bring such progress," he said.

Vogel said that in 1978, nobody in the West imagined that the Chinese Communist Party could lead a country to grow faster than capitalist nations. "Even scholars had no idea," he said.

He pointed out that while China's success offered much for others, especially developing countries, to learn from, there was no set model.

"Deng was very smart. He didn't exactly have a model. He wanted to learn the best things from everywhere and adapt (them) to the needs of his own country," Vogel told China Daily, adding that every country should do this.

He believed it was no accident that Deng was a capable and pragmatic leader, given the many ups and downs he experienced. Deng had "seen so much, thought so much and had always been around," he said.

In his view, Deng had a vast range of governance experience to draw on at local, regional and national levels.

In his later public talks, Vogel told audiences that Chinese officials were well trained, given their experience of working at various levels. He taught and spoke to some of them when they visited Harvard for training courses.