Zheng Yongnian is a 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.
This interview first appeared in SCMP Plus. For other interviews in the Open Questions series, click here.
Many have offered a lukewarm assessment of the Xi-Trump summit in Washington, citing the lack of a breakthrough. What is your take?
There are two primary views right now. One is...
What was meant to be a few glorious moments could spark policy reform in South Korea after post-match comments from a couple of gold-medal-winning footballers triggered heated debate.
South Korea beat hosts Japan 1-0 at the Toyota Stadium to win their fourth straight – and seventh overall – men’s football title at the Asian Games, leading to 20 of the 23-strong squad earning exemptions from military service.
While the exemption was not an exclusive perk for the country’s footballers but for all...
For American and Chinese people interested in the outcome of the latest summit between China’s President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump, their conclusions could not be more different if they turn to the media and pundits for guidance.
Chinese state media spared no superlative, echoing the official description of the summit as: forging the right way for the major powers to get along and writing a new chapter in ties. It played up the fact that Trump gave Xi the highest-level reception...
The curtain came down on the Asian Games on Sunday, with officials hoping the fortnight in Japan would be remembered not for the chaos dogging every step but for the athletic performances that brought more than 150 world, junior and continental records.
In keeping with the overall approach of the Games, the closing ceremony was a strange affair, which felt a little like adults trying to be cool in a room full of teenagers.
The fact it took place in front of rows and rows of empty seats at a...
In the third instalment of a four-part Health Matters series on traditional Chinese medicine, Aidyn Fitzpatrick speaks to a Hong Kong fencer studying TCM and local practitioners to see how athletes, both elite and amateur, are using TCM alongside Western medicine for smarter injury recovery.
Fresh off helping Hong Kong clinch a bronze medal in the women’s foil team event at the 2026 Asian Games in Japan, fencer Janelle Leung Ya-lei – ranked 53rd in the world – knows the fine margin between peak...
A 20-year-old US marine was arrested on Sunday in Japan’s Okinawa prefecture on suspicion of robbing and murdering a local woman, police said.
Davin Ballard stationed at the Futenma Airbase is suspected of killing Anna Yagi, 39, and taking her wallet and backpack in the early hours of Saturday at a hotel in Naha, according to the Okinawa prefectural police. The suspect has denied the charges, they added.
Ballard was seen entering the hotel with Yagi, who was found dead on Saturday morning, the...
A flight bound for Okinawa returned to Hong Kong airport on Sunday morning after its landing gear was suspected to have failed to fully retract after take-off.
Hong Kong Airlines said the crew of flight HX676, which departed at 8.57am, decided to return to ensure flight safety, in line with standard procedures.
“[The flight] encountered a suspected incomplete landing gear retraction issue after take-off,” the airline said.
The aircraft landed safely at 10am, with no injuries reported on board....
Japan is traditionally seen as a reliable host for major sporting events but an Asian Games dogged by organisational woes has tarnished that image and raised questions over future bids, experts say.
The Games in Aichi-Nagoya saw a catalogue of mishaps, from athletes bused to the wrong venues to the North Korean national anthem played for the South Korean hockey team.
There were not enough beds for the over 17,000 athletes and officials, a bigger number than the Olympics.
Countries complained of...
Final-year students invited to recruiters’ apartments for help with their applications. Coffee dates with alumni who promise to explain how the company works. Inappropriate interview questions about boyfriends, marriage plans and sex lives.
For young women in Japan, looking for a job has long entailed submitting themselves to the skewed power dynamics of the recruitment process.
And before Thursday, no official legal safeguards existed to protect these jobseekers from such...
The US is set to deploy one of its signature anti-ship missile systems to the Japanese island closest to Taiwan, an unprecedented move that comes as tensions in the region between Beijing and Tokyo continue to simmer.
The ground-based US uncrewed missile platform known as the Navy-Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) will be deployed on Yonaguni Island in Japan’s Okinawa prefecture during biennial joint exercises this month, according to the regional bureau of the Japanese...
North Korea said on Saturday it test-fired an intermediate-range ballistic missile that it claimed has manoeuvrable flight capabilities designed to evade missile defences in South Korea and Japan. The latest test comes amid heightened tensions between the two Koreas over border landmine blasts.
Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, said her brother supervised the test of the missile, which she described as strategic, implying it was designed to deliver nuclear...
