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Open Questions | ‘Stay calm. Be patient’: Zheng Yongnian’s antidote for China’s Trump shock

Chinese political scientist says if the country’s private enterprises can’t thrive, foreign capital won’t either

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Illustration: Victor Sanjinez
Orange Wangin BeijingandWendy Wuin Beijing
Zheng Yongnian is a leading political scientist in China and a government adviser. His academic work is mainly about contemporary China, particularly politics, the country’s transformation and its external relations. In an interview conducted before China’s “two sessions”, he discussed the impact of Maga on China, and how the country could become more resilient. This interview first appeared in SCMP Plus. For other interviews in the Open Questions series, click here.
The United States and Russia are discussing how to end the Ukraine war. What would be the impact on China of a sudden thaw in US-Russia ties, and could this increase the possibility of the US aligning with Russia against China?

Everyone wants to end the war, but the question is how. A major concern is that a potential peace deal might come at Ukraine’s expense, as both Ukraine and the European side have been excluded from the negotiations. Such a deal could be detrimental to the world, as it indicates [US President Donald] Trump’s final blow to the liberal international order, a return to the power politics of the 18th and 19th centuries, or the law of the jungle.

During Trump’s first term, there were media reports that [former secretary of state] Henry Kissinger suggested the US align with Russia to counter China. And the consensus inside the US that China is the primary competitor and adversary has not changed until now.

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The full heated argument between Zelensky, Trump and Vance

The full heated argument between Zelensky, Trump and Vance

But the situation is different from the Cold War when the entire Western world was against the Soviet Union. Now, if Washington and Moscow reach a deal, the European response might be a new factor in geopolitical changes.

And it is possible that the rise of right-wing forces in the US could pull up right-wing forces in Europe, which might throw the world into new chaos. That is just a worst-case scenario.

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Open Questions – SCMP interviews with global opinion leaders
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