Delegates at the Bund Summit in Shanghai largely agreed that the US-China relationship could be entering a new, less contentious chapter, although many were more interested in what the post-Trump era will mean for Sino-American ties. But perhaps the most heartening sign for the future was the honest exchange of views.
SHANGHAI—My search for truth inside China has been stymied. Banned from the China Development Forum (CDF), after participating for 25 years as the longest-attending foreign delegate, I feel like an outsider in what was once the country’s most prestigious international gathering. Deteriorating relations with former friends in Hong Kong, some of whom avoid eye contact with me now, have not helped matters. In both cases, I was cut off after offering constructive criticism—highlighting structural malaise in the mainland economy and a loss of autonomous identity in Hong Kong—the essence of what we call debate in the West.
