Why did China steer away from the methods and policies they so successfully pursued after 1979? Does the CCP have an agenda no one has quite seen through? Or are they struggling with challenges for which no perfect solution is possible? There is no simple answer to these questions.

I lived in China for almost 20 years and saw the country and the world go through two historic economic and cultural transitions. The first one was towards globalization and defined the world in which my generation was raised. The second one is towards strategic autonomy and defines our world today. The year 2019, when China celebrated the 40th anniversary of its opening and reform, can be considered a symbolic milestone separating the two periods (coincidentally, it was also my 40th birthday).

What is Left When Everyone Has Left presents facts and observations alongside a selection from my archive of over 5,000 images, striving to uphold that ever-so-rare and needed ethic that defines the journalistic profession.

If there is one definition of success for this work, it is to have encouraged readers to not settle for the simple narratives we are often presented with from both sides of the aisle and to make a genuine effort to research and develop a comprehensive opinion on the critical subjects upon which our future depends.