Pros and cons focus of physicists' debate

Nobel prize winner in physics Yang Zhenning, 94, published an article on Zhihu, a social media website, on Sept 4, that criticized China's proposed next-generation particle collider project. Physicist Wang Yifang published a response. Here are some counterpoints.

Cost

The United States had a painful experience attempting to build a large collider (the Superconducting Super Collider). In 1989, the US started to construct the world's largest collider with an initial budget of $3 billion. Later, there were several increases to the budget that drove the cost up to $8 billion, which prompted protests. The US Congress called off the project, with $3 billion already wasted. So, building a large collider is like trying to fill a bottomless pit.