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Open Questions series

Open Questions series
Open Questions is a series of South China Morning Post interviews with global opinion leaders. SCMP Plus subscribers enjoy early access to these articles.
Illustration: Henry Wong
China's economic recovery

Open Questions | How China can avoid a repeat of Japan’s ‘lost decades’

Bai Chongen, an economist and adviser to China’s government, explains how the country can dodge ‘Japanification’ and why its economic rise is misunderstood.

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Banking & finance

Open Questions | Euro, yuan unlikely to match US dollar, Daniel Gros says

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China-EU relations

Open Questions | Europe lacks China strategy, needs new US approach, Biscop says

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China energy security

Open Questions | Iran war to test China’s self-reliance, Goldman Sachs economist says

Andrew Tilton, Goldman’s chief Asia-Pacific economist, on Iran conflict’s impacts, why exports continue to drive China’s growth and an end to its housing slump.

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Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen
US-China relations

Open Questions | Euro, Chinese yuan to end US dollar dominance, top economist says

Kenneth Rogoff sees yuan as a reserve currency within five years, Europe asserting financial independence and greater regulation of stablecoins.

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2026 Trump-Xi summit

Open Questions | US ex-diplomat’s inside view on Trump-Xi summits

Former envoy in Beijing William Klein on US leader’s approach to foreign policy, tariffs, China weaponising rare earths and risks of Taiwan conflict.

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China's military weapons

Open Questions | War on Iran may spark nuclear arms race, Carnegie scholar says

Zhao Tong says return to law of the jungle signalled by current US actions could spur countries without nuclear weapons to start acquiring them.

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Illustration: Victor Sanjinez
US, Israel war on Iran

Open Questions | Iran war’s impact on China limited, scholar Pan Guang says

China’s Middle East position ‘relatively favourable’, professor says, and regional spillover from US-Israeli attacks likely to be limited to Tehran’s Shia militia allies.

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China shipbuilding

Open Questions | US shipbuilding revival looks dead in the water, Li Yanqing says

China commercial shipbuilding veteran doubts protectionist US can take business from market-oriented Chinese yards, and slams Washington’s ‘fabricated facts’ about their rise.

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China trade

Open Questions | Abraham Newman on how world can resist US, China economic coercion

Threatening rivals’ economic choke points is nothing new, but Trump has politicised it, political scientist says. He suggests ways countries and companies can respond.

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Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen
US-China relations

Open Questions | AmCham chairman urges more US-China talks, fewer tariffs

James Zimmerman on US businesses’ desire for stable bilateral relations and fair treatment by China, and why Hong Kong autonomy matters.

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Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen
Ukraine war

Open Questions | Historian on Trump’s new world order and a Europe in crisis

Luuk van Middelaar explains return of great-power rule, Europe’s wake-up call and its struggle to fend off Putin in Ukraine and respond to ‘danger’ from US.

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China's economic recovery

Open Questions | Lawrence Lau’s recipe for China? More school, higher pay

Economist on how China can improve its workforce, why it needs more basic research and the benefits a unified market in the Greater Bay Area would bring.

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Artificial intelligence

Open Questions | Why practical use of AI, not race for supremacy, is key for this author

Academic Jeffrey Ding explains why human capital will determine whether US or China wins the AI race, not which attains superintelligence first.

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Illustration: Henry Wong
United States

Open Questions | China wins if Venezuela ensnares Trump, Mearsheimer says

Maduro’s ‘kidnap’ and naked grab for Venezuela’s oil may leave US bogged down and less able to keep eye on China, political scientist John Mearsheimer says.

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Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen
US-Venezuela conflict

Open Questions | Zheng Yongnian on what US’ ‘neocolonialism’, Venezuela operation mean for China

Political scientist says the Western-led global order remains useful, and the Belt and Road Initiative isn’t a geopolitical project.

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US-China relations

Open Questions | Amid US-China trade war truce, ex-diplomat preaches realism

Daniel Kritenbrink, once the top US diplomat for East Asia, doesn’t see a wider thaw in relations despite upcoming meetings between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping.

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Mainland China

Open Questions | Political scientist Ivan Krastev on Europe’s ‘China shock’, US snub

China’s challenge to Europe’s industrial might and the end of coalition with US has plunged continent into crisis. Can it recover, asks Bulgarian expert Ivan Krastev.

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Illustration: Henry Wong
US-China decoupling

Open Questions | Yeo on how Trump wants to avoid Taiwan upending China relations

Former Singapore foreign minister George Yeo says that Donald Trump is prioritising stable relations with China, and that the US is facing decline amid a shift to a multipolar world.

Artificial intelligence

Open Questions | Why sci-fi’s Liu Cixin hopes AI surpasses humanity

The Three-Body Problem author on technology’s remorseless progress, why superintelligence isn’t a given and the decline of science fiction literature.

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China economy

Open Questions | Huang Yiping on AI and stablecoins’ risks and rewards for China

Influential economist says growth in artificial intelligence must protect livelihoods and Chinese central bank’s cryptocurrency caution is warranted.

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Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen
US-China relations

Open Questions | Ex-PLA colonel on Taiwan, the Ukraine war, China-US ties

Zhou Bo ponders Japanese PM Takaichi’s recent remarks, lessons from the Ukraine conflict and why China won’t be world’s policeman.

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Illustration: Victor Sanjinez
China economy

Open Questions | Nicholas Lardy on China’s unique economic advantage

Economist at US think tanks on bright prospects for China, the challenges it faces and why more market discipline is needed.

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China economy

Open Questions | China’s weak consumption and how economist Lu Feng would fix it

With 15th five-year plan promoting consumption, Peking University expert spells out imbalances and contradictions in Chinese economy and ways to resolve them.

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Books and literature

Open Questions | Sci-fi author Ken Liu on why dawn of AI is like camera’s advent

Chinese-American science fiction author on why we should experiment with artificial intelligence, not worry about it.

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Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen
Harvard University (US)

Open Questions | Michael Sandel on Trump’s rise, meritocracy’s downsides

Philosopher on US president’s politics of humiliation, inequality, humanities in peril and his wish for Chinese and Americans to learn from each other.

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Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen
US-China relations

Open Questions | John Mearsheimer on Taiwan, US-China rivalry, Trump and Ukraine

International relations scholar weighs risks of great power conflict in East Asia, West’s blunder on Russia and what Donald Trump got right about China.

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China's economic recovery

Open Questions | Liu Qian on Chinese innovation, the US rivalry and women holding up half the sky

Economist, business executive advocates looking beyond geopolitics, avoiding policy pitfalls and building a culture that celebrates success.

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