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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: Lau Ka-kuen
US-China relations

Open Questions | Trump and Xi won’t allow ‘free-fall’ in relations, Hass says

Think tank director and former diplomat sees Donald Trump and Xi Jinping as both being key to any change in the political trajectory in China-US ties.

Mainland China

Open Dialogue | Yu Yongding and Kenneth Rogoff on yuan’s future as international currency

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China technology

Open Questions | US tech controls make China “more creative,” Zhang says

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Donald Trump

Open Questions | China-US tariff truce likely to carry on if talks make progress, Cutler says

Trade expert Wendy Cutler expects the US and China to extend a mutual reduction in tariffs, if negotiations are productive, because both countries have been hurt by their trade war.

US-China trade war

Open Questions | Trade deal likelihood ‘quite high’

Chinese economist Yao Yang says both sides realise the widespread pain coming from the US-China trade war, which means they will probably reach an agreement.

US-China relations

Open Questions | Trump’s policies seen eroding US power

Princeton politics professor Rory Truex on the US-China relations reset, Washington’s ‘new cold warriors’ and US visa curbs on Chinese students.

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US-China trade war

Open Questions | Despite an escalating trade war, US and China haven’t yet decoupled: CSIS political scientist Scott Kennedy

The China specialist at CSIS expects ‘more to come’ in the tariff stand-off between Washington and Beijing and possible spillover beyond trade issues.

Scott Kennedy: US-China aren’t decoupled yet, but the trade war may deepen
Taiwan

Open Questions | Taiwan issue is likely to be resolved peacefully within 10 years: Yan Anlin

Yan Anlin, an expert on Taiwan studies, sees more opposition to the island’s independence than support for it but believes that military conflict cannot be ruled out.

US-China relations

Open Questions | Trump’s trade war may spur China’s ascent

Former UK diplomat Kerry Brown doesn’t see China yielding in the tariff tit-for-tat with the US. He says Britain is just trying to survive for the moment as ‘America is fighting with everyone’.

US-China relations

Open Questions | Xi-Trump meeting is ‘far away’: former CIA official says China needs to take steps on fentanyl

Dennis Wilder says China needs to stop using the fentanyl issue as a political card. He says that before Trump and Xi meet, negotiations are in order and that the US stance towards Taiwan hasn’t changed.

Xi-Trump meeting is ‘far away’: former CIA official says China needs to take positive steps on fentanyl
Science

Open Questions | China’s mathematics aspirations lifted by return of talent

Fields Medal winner Shing-Tung Yau reflects on the gap between mathematics development in the US and China.

China economy

Open Questions | Beyond US-China, imbalances are igniting trade disputes

Finance professor Michael Pettis on how a rebalancing of China’s economy could put more money into households to drive consumption.

China economy

Open Questions | Tech boost is no panacea for fixing China’s economic ills, Morgan Stanley economist says

Robin Xing, Morgan Stanley’s chief China economist, says the revival of animal spirits spurred by DeepSeek must be supported by broader consumption measures and social welfare reforms.

US-China relations

Open Questions | China should cut red tape to free up hi-tech start-ups

Political scientist Zheng Yongnian discusses the ‘middle technology’ trap, says China could play a role in post-war Ukraine reconstruction.

China should reform, loosen regulations to allow hi-tech start-ups to thrive
Two Sessions 2025

Open Questions | Beijing’s leaders should focus on cutting red tape to help private sector reach full potential, China watcher says

Former Post editor Wang Xiangwei expects more talk than concrete action from the upcoming ‘two sessions’.

China should emulate Musk, Mao – models for trimming bureaucracy, Wang Xiangwei says
Chinese culture

Open Questions | China’s Confucian traditions coexist with Marxism

Political theorist Daniel A. Bell discusses how Confucian values mesh with China’s state policies and how ‘political meritocracy’ differs from electoral democracies.

US-China relations

Open Questions | No simple containment policy on China, former US official says

Rick Waters, former ‘China House’ head, discusses US-China divisions, an uptick in Taiwan Strait risks and the evolving Chinese diplomatic corps.

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US-China relations

Open Questions | Scholar Jing Qian on right-sizing China’s economy in the age of Trump

The researcher surveys the dividends of ‘Made in China 2025’ and shares why he thinks Trump’s contradictions could benefit bilateral relations.

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Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen

Open Questions | US-China rivalry doesn’t have to be a zero-sum game: Jessica Chen Weiss

The academic and former US State Department adviser on why Washington’s deterrence strategy must include assurances as well as threats.

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US-China relations

Open Questions | ‘Small yard, high fence’ seen growing under Trump 2.0

American studies expert Yuan Zheng predicts four more turbulent years, but doesn’t rule out a softer approach from the new US president.

Taiwan

Open Questions | Trump unlikely to use Taiwan as ‘bargaining chip’

Foreign policy analyst Bonnie Glaser on China’s ‘grey zone’ policy toward Taiwan and why the South China Sea is riskier than the Taiwan Strait.

Taiwan unlikely to be ‘bargaining chip’ in Trump 2.0
US-China relations

Open Questions | Why the US-China gap is more about trust than trade

Robert Hormats, former adviser to Henry Kissinger, sees technology as the oil of the 21st century in a two-way rivalry between Washington and Beijing.

US-China relations

Open Questions | Trump may make China decisions faster than in first term – former state department official

Former US diplomat Daniel Russel discusses how Barack Obama’s ‘pivot to Asia’ has turned out and evaluates the outlook for the region under a more experienced Donald Trump.

China-EU relations

Open Questions | New ‘China shock’ to test car sector, Columbia historian Adam Tooze says

Professor Tooze urges Europe to focus on Chinese electric vehicle joint ventures instead of tariffs and fears a return of ‘the atomic card’.

SCMP Highlights

Open Questions | China’s rise, potential recession, no WWIII yet: 11 key interviews from 2024

From a Nobel laureate and economists to scholars and historians, here are some of our best Open Questions interviews of the year.

Illustration: Victor Sanjinez
Science

Open Questions | Historian traces Chinese knowledge exchanges with the West

Chinese scientific historian Han Qi discusses how the Silk Road was a conduit for technology transfer from China to the West, with examples ranging from ‘the four great inventions’ to astronomy and traditional Chinese medicine.

China’s influence on the West, from printing and gunpowder to climate records
China's economic recovery

Open Questions | China can offset trade curbs by shoring up local demand, economist says

Chinese economist Zhang Yansheng discusses how expanding non-US trade investment and boosting local demand can counteract Trump’s trade curbs.

China-EU relations

Open Questions | Former senior diplomat sees new Trump tariffs as unsettling for trade

Former Spanish foreign minister Arancha Gonzalez urges Europe and China to join forces to stabilise trade in the shadow of anticipated new US tariffs.

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