Why Xi is staying home

[View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( Follow Us [Get the newsletter]( As world leaders meet this week to discuss the pandemic, supply chains and climate change, Chinese President Xi Jinping has his hands full at home. A power crisis, defaulting property developers and Covid-19 outbreaks are prompting economists to cut growth forecasts. That’s complicating Xi’s efforts to implement sweeping changes to China’s economy in his “common prosperity” campaign. Geopolitical tensions are also rising. China today blasted the U.S. for suggesting Taiwan play a greater role at the United Nations, shortly after Xi urged further military advancements on the back of a hypersonic missile test. Mark Milley, the U.S.’s top uniformed military officer, likened that display to a “Sputnik moment,” in reference to the Soviet Union’s 1957 launch of the world’s first space satellite. Key reading: - [Xi’s Toughest ‘Common Prosperity’ Test Is Raising China’s Taxes]( - [Xi Jinping Is Too Busy Lobbying China Elite for a Global Summit]( - [Milley Likens China’s Hypersonic Weapon Test to ‘Sputnik Moment’]( - [China Warns U.S. Support for Taiwan Poses ‘Huge Risks’ to Ties]( - [U.S. Ban on China Telecom Signals Broad Concern Over Beijing]( Amid the noise, Xi’s main goal is improving living standards for hundreds of millions of citizens living paycheck to paycheck. While he wants to rein in billionaires and look tough on Taiwan, he also wants to avoid a destabilizing event that ultimately risks weakening the Communist Party — and his own grip on power. To that end, the next month is crucial. Party bigwigs will soon gather in Beijing for the biggest meeting before next year’s congress, a twice-a-decade leadership reshuffle. If all goes smoothly, Xi will be well on his way to serving a precedent-breaking third term — and maybe even feeling comfortable enough to venture outside China’s borders again. — [Daniel Ten Kate]( Xi Jinping on a visit to Tibet in July. Photographer: Li Xueren/Xinhua/Getty Images Click [here]( to see our Bloomberg Politics website and share this newsletter with others too. They can sign up [here](. Global Headlines Still pushing | U.S. President Joe Biden’s economic agenda is mired in a messy, last-mile effort to get Democrats on the same page on a bill that will be a shadow of the original idea. But as [Josh Wingrove]( and [Kaustuv Basu]( report, despite the frustrations the legislative [slog]( is fairly typical for Washington. - Biden entered office vowing a new era of U.S. [engagement]( with the world, but arrives in Rome this week for the Group of 20 summit facing deep skepticism. - Senate Democrats released the [details]( of a proposed levy on billionaires, a new and logistically risky tax approach that lawmakers hope will help fund Biden’s social spending. Britain’s budget | Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak is likely to save most of the extra revenue generated during the U.K.’s record economic rebound when he [lays out]( his annual budget today. While the Treasury has announced billions of pounds of spending, that still won’t compare to the stimulus that helped Britain through the pandemic. - Images of raw sewage spewing into U.K. seas and rivers forced Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government into a [U-turn]( that will require water companies to cut so-called storm overflows. World leaders are running out of time to make a climate breakthrough at the COP26 talks. You can [sign up now]( to get the latest from Glasgow in your inbox every day from Oct. 31 to Nov. 12. As global leaders prepare for COP26, there's a growing urgency to cut reliance on polluting fossil fuels to limit the worst effects of global warming. For that effort to be successful, clean energy will have to grow rapidly to make up the difference. [Click here]( for more on how much investment will have to ramp up. Systemic weakness | Iran said a foreign country was likely behind a cyberattack that paralyzed gas stations, exposing flaws in its critical computer networks ahead of the anniversary of protests over fuel prices. The Islamic Republic’s been a frequent target of such strikes since its nuclear program became a flashpoint in ties with the West more than a decade ago. Read more [here]( about who it usually points the finger at for alleged sabotage. Best of Bloomberg Opinion - [It’s Now Possible to Grow Rich and Go Green: David Fickling]( - [Xi’s China Roadmap Is Awash in Contradictions: Matthew Brooker]( - [Russia and Belarus Are Weaponizing Migration: Andreas Kluth]( Fallen star | Sebastian Kurz was hailed as the future of conservatism when he became Austria’s Chancellor and Europe’s youngest leader in 2017, aged 31. But as [Jonathan Tirone]( and [Chris Reiter]( report, his resignation this month amid allegations that he and his inner circle misused taxpayer money to orchestrate his rise is a [defeat]( for allies elsewhere in Europe who’d viewed his populist political brand as a template for securing power. Costly intervention | Sudan’s army reasserted itself as the North African country’s pre-eminent power broker, toppling an uneasy coalition of civilian and military figures that governed after the 2019 ouster of dictator Omar al-Bashir. Read [here]( why the coup puts hundreds of millions of dollars of aid at risk and dashes hopes of a speedy transition to democracy. - Arrested Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok [returned]( home but remains under close guard. Protesters against the coup in the capital, Khartoum. Photo Credit: AFP/Getty Images Bloomberg TV and Radio air Balance of Power with [David Westin]( weekdays from 12 to 1pm ET, with a second hour on Bloomberg Radio from 1 to 2pm ET. You can watch and listen on Bloomberg channels and online [here]( or check out prior episodes and guest clips [here](. What to Watch - The Justice Department is moving more cautiously on a Trump-era initiative that accused Chinese and Chinese-American researchers of [stealing]( U.S. secrets after a number of cases fizzled in court. - Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida wants to draw up key economic [proposals]( shortly after Sunday’s general election, including the contents of a stimulus plan worth tens of trillions of yen. - Environmental group Greenpeace called on the European Union to [ban]( short flights on routes where a train journey under six hours is available. And finally ... Hong Kong is expected to prohibit films that run contrary to the interests of a Beijing-drafted national security law, the latest crackdown on freedom of expression. The opposition-free legislature amended the Film Censorship Bill, turning movie censors into [gatekeepers]( with penalties as high as $130,000 and three years in prison for those who screen non-approved content. Questions hang over how the changes would impact streaming services like Netflix, which offers a documentary on student activist Joshua Wong. Joshua Wong ahead of a court hearing in December. Photographer: Chan Long Hei/Bloomberg   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]( [Ads Powered By Liveintent]( | [Ad Choices]( Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington, New York, NY, 10022