US-China tensions soar after Pelosi visits Taiwan: Weekend Reads

The blowback from US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan was swift and heavy: China carried out its most provocative military drills [View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( Follow Us [Get the newsletter]( The blowback from US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan was swift and heavy: China [carried]( out its most provocative military drills in decades around the island and cut off defense and climate talks with Washington, as relations between the world’s biggest economies nose-dived. Taiwan described the military exercises as an apparent [simulation]( of an attack on its main island. Pelosi’s trip highlighted a whipsaw week for President Joe Biden. His tax and climate bill gained key support in the Senate and the US unemployment rate fell to pre-pandemic [lows](. But American basketball star Brittney Griner’s nine-year drug sentence in Russia ramped up [pressure]( on him to seal a prisoner swap with the Kremlin to free her. US, European and Iranian diplomats [resumed]( talks in Vienna after months of deadlock in an attempt to save their moribund nuclear deal, with scant optimism of a breakthrough. In Europe, there were worries about how countries will keep their people warm in the winter as [deepening concerns]( over Russian gas supplies shake the regional economy. Delve into these and other top political stories from the past seven days in this edition of Weekend Reads. — [Karl MaierÂ]( Video screenshot shows aerial refueling of a warplane in operations around Taiwan on Thursday. Source: Xinhua News Agency/Getty Images Click [here]( for this week’s most compelling political images and share this newsletter with others. They can sign up [here](. Pelosi’s Taiwan Trip Left Fuming White House Scrambling for Plan Behind the scenes, Biden administration officials were fuming at Pelosi’s insistence on using the trip as a [capstone]( for her career at a moment of highly delicate relations with Beijing. [Jenny Leonard]( and [Billy House]( describe how it played out. - Pelosi’s visit briefly [crashed]( Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter, as millions in the country debated her Asia trip. White House Lobbies Democrats Against Bid to Deepen Taiwan Ties The Biden administration is [lobbying]( Democratic senators to put the brakes on a bill that would alter US policy toward Taiwan. [Jenny Leonard]( and [Erik Wasson]( report that the changes would include designating the island nation as a major non-NATO ally, sources say.  Pelosi made her comments on Wednesday during a Presidential Office ceremony with Taiwanese leader Tsai Ing-wen. “We will not [abandon]( our commitment to Taiwan and we are proud of our enduring friendship,” she said. China Disappointment Over Taiwan Response Puts Pressure on Xi Beijing’s failure to follow through on some of the more [extreme]( measures proposed by nationalists to stop Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan left some on the mainland disappointed. - Read [here]( about how China hit back at Pelosi’s visit with a range of actions against the self-ruled island it considers its own. - China’s decision to halt climate talks with the US dealt [another blow]( to global warming negotiations already upset by the energy crisis and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Taiwan Faces Urgent Fighter Pilot Shortage as Xi Tests Defenses If a war were to break out between the US and China, one trigger may be the increasingly frequent fighter-jet encounters near Taiwan. And as [Cindy Wang]( writes, the risk is [even higher]( now, not just because China is sending more jets but due to the longer-term problem Taiwan’s military faces: a dire shortage of pilots. Sweeping Mortgage Boycott Changes the Face of Dissent in China In a country that only tolerates dissent in small doses, a mortgage boycott by hundreds of thousands of middle-class homebuyers has become one of the most effective [protests]( China has seen. With social stability a must ahead of this year’s Communist Party Congress, Xi’s Politburo has asked local officials to “ensure the completion” of housing projects. Best of Bloomberg Opinion - [The US Needs Less Talk and More Action on Taiwan: Editorial]( - [Democracy Is Hard. It’s Supposed to Be.: Jonathan Bernstein]( - [Getting Grain Out of Ukraine Is a Minefield: James Stavridis]( - [Zawahiri Killing Gives Taliban an Opening With US: Bobby Ghosh]( - [Pelosi’s Taiwan Trip Is Only Start of US Headaches: Minxin Pei]( Ukraine’s Grain Corridors Still Need Ships to Ease Food Crisis The first legal shipments of grain from Ukraine since the Russian invasion are a harbinger of relief for squeezed global markets. [Aine Quinn](, [Ann Koh]( and [Vivian Iroanya]( outline the many challenges to be overcome before the millions of tons of food stuck in the country can be released. The cargo vessel Razoni sailing to Lebanon along the Bosphorus Strait on Wednesday. Photographer: Ozan Kose/AFP/Getty Images Biden Hails ‘Powerful’ Kansas Vote on Abortion, Signs New Order The president predicted the threat to abortion rights would [drive]( people to the polls in the November midterm elections after Kansas voters rejected an effort to strip protections in the state constitution. [Jordan Fabian]( and [Nancy Cook]( report on how Democrats hope the issue will help stem losses in the congressional vote. - Biden’s caution on abortion has [frustrated]( many in his party who see their rights — and a political opportunity — slipping away. Global energy firms came [under fire]( from United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who said it’s “immoral for oil and gas companies to be making record profits from this energy crisis” spawned by the war in Ukraine. He called for nations to impose excess profit taxes. Iran Deal Slipping Further Out of Reach as Nuclear Talks Resume European Union diplomats say the gulf between Iran and the US has [widened]( since the last round of talks in Vienna as negotiations resume to revive the 2015 nuclear agreement. As [Jonathan Tirone]( reports, their downbeat outlook suggests there’s limited prospect for a deal that could ease the global energy crunch by lifting sanctions on Iranian exports.. Explainers you can use - Here’s Where UK’s Truss, Sunak Stand on Issues from Tax to China]( - [World’s Food Supply Faces Threat as India Rice Crop Falters]( - [What Will Be Different About Italy’s Snap Elections]( - [What to Know About Bolsonaro-Lula Showdown in Brazil]( - [Kenya Vote Backdrop Is Anger Over Living Costs, Debt]( Bolsonaro Is Luring Evangelicals to Reduce Lula’s Lead in Brazil Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is courting Christian evangelicals in the run-up to the October election to block inroads made by frontrunner Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva into the [crucial]( voting base. [Daniel Carvalho]( explains that he won in 2018 in large part due to the support of the community of faithful that makes up about a third of the country’s 210 million people. - US-led sanctions on Russia are a political [mistake]( that increases the risk of a nuclear war, a top Lula foreign policy adviser, Celso Amorim, said in an interview. Italy’s Great Divide Tests Europe’s Ambitious Recovery Efforts To grasp the European Union’s ­[challenge]( in reinvigorating economic growth through its biggest-ever package of spending, [Jana Randow]( and [Alessandra Migliaccio]( take a close look at two flagship projects at either end of Italy, the country receiving the most money. Germany Has Three Months to Save Itself From a Winter Gas Crisis The presidential palace in Berlin is no longer lit at night, Hanover is turning off warm water in gym showers, and German municipalities are preparing heating havens to keep people safe from the cold of the coming winter. Much of Europe is feeling [the strain]( from Russia’s squeeze on natural gas deliveries, yet as [Vanessa Dezem](, [William Wilkes]( and [Arne Delfs]( explain, no other country is as exposed as the region’s biggest economy. - High river temperatures driven by scorching weather may force Electricite de France to extend cuts to nuclear generation that have [turned]( Europe’s biggest producer of atomic energy into a power importer. Lights remain off in apartment and commercial buildings at night in Frankfurt, Germany. Photographer: Ben Kilb/Bloomberg Forgotten Zimbabwe City of Bulawayo Gets a Dam as Elections Loom President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government is pushing a development [bonanza]( in the region around Bulawayo, Zimbabwe’s second-largest city, As [Godfrey Marawanyika]( and [Antony Sguazzin]( explain, it’s part of a strategy to win votes in next year’s election in a traditional opposition stronghold dominated by the minority Ndebele ethnic group. And finally … The pledge by Group of Seven leaders to stand by Ukraine for the long haul isn’t [resonating]( with their Group of 20 counterparts. As [Alan Crawford](, [Jenni Marsh]( and [Antony Sguazzin]( report, only half of the G-20 nations that account for some 85% of global economic output have joined the international sanctions imposed on fellow member Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. Like getting this newsletter? [Subscribe to Bloomberg.com]( for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and subscriber-only insights. 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