Firing line

[Bloomberg]( Follow Us [Get the newsletter]( If you build it, will they come? That is the big political and financial question as the U.K. this weekend opens a path to citizenship for holders of a special Hong Kong passport created before the city’s return to Chinese rule in 1997. Prior periods of turmoil related to Hong Kong have seen an [exodus]( to countries like Canada and Australia. The U.K. government [estimates]( about 300,000 people might apply for the extended visas that could eventually give them citizenship. But it’s unclear how many people will actually do so. There are reasons some will opt out, even as they fear the squeeze of Hong Kong’s national security law. For one thing it costs a fair bit of money, involves a lot of paperwork, and applicants have to prove they can provide for themselves financially in the U.K. Britain is one of the [worst-hit]( countries in the world by the pandemic, and the [economy]( faces an adjustment from [Brexit](. So there’s a lot of competition for jobs. Taxes are much higher than Hong Kong. And the anti-immigration noise in the Brexit process may leave some wondering how welcome they’d truly be. China is warning people against taking up the offer. It is clearly chafed by Britain’s criticism of its [encroachment]( on Hong Kong’s political freedoms, and that sets the stage for a tricky negotiation of a trade deal with the U.K. post-Brexit. Regardless of the actual number, expect tensions between Beijing and London to rise. The U.K. just put itself in the firing line. — [Rosalind MathiesonÂ]( A demonstrator holds a replica British National (Overseas) passport during a 2019 rally in Hong Kong. Photographer: Paul Yeung/Bloomberg [Click here]( for this week’s most compelling political images and tell us how we’re doing or what we’re missing at balancepower@bloomberg.net. Global Headlines [Under pressure]( | The European Union’s very public difficulty in securing Covid-19 vaccines has officials privately worried. What is the bloc’s purpose, they wonder, if it is less effective at shielding its citizens than 27 countries going it alone? As [Ian Wishart](, [Alberto Nardelli]( and [Arne Delfs]( explain, it’s a dilemma that officials in Brussels know they have to resolve, and quickly, or risk another existential EU crisis. [The glitch]( | President Joe Biden has ordered the government to buy electric vehicles made in America with union labor. There’s just one problem: No such vehicles exist. - The five-member Federal Energy Regulatory Commission [will]( play a pivotal role fulfilling Biden’s clean-energy ambitions, including his vow to strip greenhouse gas emissions from the power sector over the next 14 years. [New strains]( | With more than 30% of its population vaccinated, Israel leads the fight against Covid-19. Yet the emergence of more infectious variants is overwhelming its hospitals, showing the long road ahead for the rest of the world. - The U.K. today [banned]( direct passenger flights from the United Arab Emirates to curb a new virus strain originally identified in South Africa, putting one of the world’s busiest international air routes on ice. - Biden and his top advisers have [derided]( the Trump administration’s playbook for distributing vaccines, but so far have made only modest changes to the plan that’s meeting their target pace of more than one million shots a day. People line up outside a vaccination center at Rabin Square in Tel Aviv on Jan. 4. Photographer: Kobi Wolf/Bloomberg [Challenging time]( | Jailed Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny’s battle with President Vladimir Putin faces a test Sunday as his supporters plan further nationwide protests. Authorities are warning against participation and have already detained key Navalny aides. Still, they’re worried by the scale of the demonstrations and looking for ways to cool public discontent, three people close to the government said. [Virus forever]( | Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is dismissing scientific recommendations to fight Covid-19 by respecting social distancing and imposing restrictive measures, saying they will “lead nowhere” and that the coronavirus will be with us forever. Brazil has the second-highest death toll from the pandemic, behind the U.S. and ahead of Mexico, whose fatalities [surpassed]( India. What to Watch - Former Italian premier Matteo Renzi, who [triggered]( the collapse of the government, left the door ajar for Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte to return to power and avoid new elections. - Myanmar is facing a crisis just days before its newly elected parliament is set to convene, as tensions between the powerful military and Aung San Suu Kyi’s civilian government raise [fears of a coup](. - U.S. officials will meet next week with Taiwan government and industry representatives and are expected to pressure Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and its peers to [ramp up]( the supply of vital chips to American automakers. - Former President Donald Trump, in a meeting yesterday with House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, agreed to [help]( the GOP retake control of the chamber in 2022. Pop quiz, readers (no cheating!). In which country does the president disagree with the opposition on which year his term ends? Send your answers to balancepower@bloomberg.net [And finally]( ... For a brief moment, it seemed, America’s left and right had finally found common ground on the [GameStop]( affair. After liberal House member Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez took to Twitter to assail the trading curbs imposed on GameStop by Robinhood Markets and other platforms, Ted Cruz, an arch-conservative Trump supporter, retweeted her comments, adding “Fully agree.” Then the shoe dropped. Ocasio-Cortez rejected Cruz’s overture, accusing him of trying to get her killed by supporting the challenges to the Nov. 3 election that prompted the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. Source: Twitter   Like Balance of Power? [Get unlimited access to Bloomberg.com](, where you'll find trusted, data-based journalism in 120 countries around the world and expert analysis from exclusive daily newsletters.  You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Balance of Power newsletter. [Unsubscribe]( | [Bloomberg.com]( | [Contact Us]( Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington, New York, NY, 10022