QR codes also decouples merchants from POS systems, so it's massively more flexible and step forward if people want to do stuff and get paid. Contactless payment is faster, but PRC also rolling out palm to pay which is much faster/convenient vs tap. IMO optimal coverage is probably QR codes and skipping tapping straight for palm scanning.

I don't think it's as big of an issue. China seems to be doing just fine when it comes to payment processing, and it's not the only country that works that way.

From a software freedom perspective, I actually prefer QR codes. The UX of tapping a card is a little better (though it also opens up an avenue for theft) but I think every phone I've held the past ten years has had some way to quickly scan a QR code from the lock screen, even if not every phone made the possibility obvious.

QR codes aren't a replacement for contactless. Contactless will stay, although unfortunately Dutch banks have recently discontinued their own contactless payment system and moved to Google Pay, which was a terrible decision.