Travelling to China helped American students appreciate country’s complexity and share moments of joy with Chinese people. In-person interactions between Americans and Chinese must be preserved, even and especially as relations between their governments become more tense.

While immigration is an important topic in US politics, the simplistic rhetoric used around a complex issue only further stokes fear and anger. If US politicians are serious about serving the American people’s interests, they will abandon the overheated rhetoric and work to maximise the benefits of immigration while minimising its costs.

The rise of youth depression owes much to China’s rigid education system, the loneliness of only children and tight rural-urban migration restrictions. Centrally planned schooling, along with migration restrictions that mean millions of children are left behind in rural areas, should be done away with.

After decades of high growth, today’s youth – even with fewer people working – will be wealthier than any other generation. But policymakers must tread carefully, to ensure dissatisfaction does not boil over into unrest and cause political instability.

As most developed economies learned years ago, reducing Covid-19 infection rates in high-risk populations takes self-distancing and other proactive measures. Such precautions are not an option for far too many Chinese households, though, given the elderly’s role in child care and the state of health care in rural China.

The good news for the Chinese people is that the recent protests were dispersed with little bloodshed and the end of pandemic restrictions is finally in sight. The bad news is the public’s rejection of Covid-19 rules raises the political stakes of the next controversial policy and could threaten regime legitimacy.

When the war finally ends, Ukraine must begin the much longer and costlier process of reconstruction, and for that it will need the help of its European neighbours. Yet as was proved when the US helped to rehabilitate Europe after WWII, economic support strengthens regional stability, without which peace would be fleeting.

Xi’s biggest problems – economic slowdown, demographic challenges, pollution – were inherited but so were the main policy solutions. What changed most under Xi was the mode of implementation – announcing major policies suddenly and without much apparent deliberation has proved economically harmful.

China has learned from Russia’s post-1991 experience, pursuing its economic liberalisation with more care, but still failed to avoid some pitfalls of pro-market policies. While the strongman playbook might dictate taking Taiwan by force to distract from economic woes, Beijing is likely to move cautiously with an eye on Russia’s experience.

China’s zero-Covid policy has wreaked havoc on its economy and people, but unless more of its population is vaccinated, particularly the elderly, the government is unlikely to be willing to abandon it.

The Chinese government has been at pains to increase fertility and reduce pollution. Raising children in urban China is prohibitively expensive. Telecommuting is a low-cost strategy to address China’s demographic and environmental challenges.