Xi’s global leadership has limits

Chinese President Xi faces limits to his role as peacemeaker [View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( Welcome to Balance of Power, bringing you the latest in global politics. If you haven’t yet, sign up [here](. President Xi Jinping is facing an inconvenient truth: [there are limits]( to his aspiring role as peacemaker. At home and abroad, talking up China’s role as a broker in the Middle East has been a useful distraction. In March, the nation’s top diplomat presided over a deal in Beijing between Saudi Arabia and Iran that ended years of diplomatic deadlock. That success helped offset criticism over Beijing’s failure to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Xi’s cozy ties with President Vladimir Putin. It even helped bolster perceptions of Xi as a responsible actor on the world stage at a moment of rising concern over his possible military designs toward Taiwan. Now, Beijing’s response to the attacks on Israel by the militant Palestinian group Hamas is a very public reminder of the difficulty for the US and its allies in dealing with China’s strict policy of neutrality. While China has said it’s a “friend to both” Israel and the Palestinians, US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told Xi he was “disappointed” that it showed “no sympathy” for the Israeli people. The Foreign Ministry in Beijing later said it was “saddened” by the casualties. Not that Israel is likely to ever accept China as a broker in talks with the Palestinians. Despite Beijing’s growing diplomatic clout in the Middle East, Washington remains its preferred negotiator. Ultimately, this leaves Xi out of step with the US and its allies in a major conflict for the second time in as many years. That may weaken his hand as he prepares to sit down with President Joe Biden at next month’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit to push back against Washington’s investment and technology curbs on Beijing. — [Rebecca Choong Wilkins]( Xi greets Schumer before their meeting yesterday. Photographer: Andy Wong/AFP/Getty Images Global Must Reads Israel is building a military base next to the Gaza Strip [to accommodate tens of thousands of soldiers](, as it prepares for the next phase of its response to Hamas’s attack. While Israel has not said it will send troops into the territory, many Israelis and Palestinians expect it to do so. Its last major incursion into Gaza, in 2014, led to the killing of more than 2,000 Palestinians and dozens of Israelis. Hamas went low-tech, breaking up into cells and holding individual meetings to plan the attack that [caught Israel’s security apparatus off-guard](. Israel’s intelligence services have a reputation as among the world’s most sophisticated and the Gaza Strip, a teeming enclave of 2 million, is one of the most surveilled parts of the planet, adding to the shock over the scale of the assault. The Israel-Hamas conflict was the first real test for the platform formerly known as Twitter since it was taken over by Elon Musk. As Davey Alba and Daniel Zuidijk and Isabella Ward report, [posts about the attack have led to confusion](, misinformation and conflict, exposing how his acquisition and policy changes have made X an unreliable resource in times of crisis. The annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank kick off in Morocco this week as the violence in Israel and Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine give a stark reminder to central bankers and finance ministers of how geopolitics can upend their plans. Read our [guide on what to watch]( in Marrakech. George Weah, a former world footballer of the year, is seeking reelection as president of the West African nation of Liberia for another six-year term today after[an economic crisis and endemic corruption]( sapped his popularity. The economy is struggling to recover from two civil wars that ended two decades ago and an outbreak of Ebola that peaked in 2014. A US aircraft carrier joined warships from Japan and South Korea for their first [joint naval interdiction drills]( in seven years, as Washington has accused North Korea of making illicit weapons shipments to Russia. UK Labour leader Keir Starmer will warn today that the UK faces a [difficult path to recovery]( as he urges voters to put their trust in his opposition party to take charge of rebuilding after more than 13 years of Conservative-led governments. Biden was interviewed over two days as part of the [special counsel investigation]( into classified material found at a former private office and one of his homes in Delaware, the White House said. Washington Dispatch With Biden saying it is “likely” that American citizens have been abducted by Hamas during the assault on Israel, the FBI has entered the fray, both in Israel and the US. The bureau said in a statement that FBI agents, “through our legal attache” in Israel and in concert with local authorities, have been trying to help find missing Americans and identify those who have died. Biden, in a statement yesterday, said that at least 11 Americans were killed in the attacks and that others were missing. “While we are still working to confirm, we believe it is likely that American citizens may be among those being held by Hamas,” Biden said. The FBI added that it’s coordinating with law enforcement and other agencies in the US as well, but that it “does not have specific and credible intelligence indicating a threat to the United States stemming from the Hamas attacks in Israel.” One person to watch today: The president will address the nation on the crisis in Israel. [Sign up for the Washington Edition newsletter]( for more from the US capital and watch Balance of Power at 5pm ET weekdays on Bloomberg Television. Chart of the Day The IMF lifted its global inflation forecast for next year and called for central banks to keep policy tight until there’s a durable easing in price pressures. In most countries, the IMF foresees [inflation remaining above central bank targets]( until 2025. And Finally Research by French virologist Jean-Michel Claverie is shining a light on a [grim reality]( of global warming as it thaws ground that’s been frozen for millennia. He has spent over a decade studying “giant” viruses, including ones nearly 50,000 years old found deep within layers of permafrost in Russia’s Siberia. His team published research last year showing they’d extracted multiple ancient viruses that remained infectious, raising fears of potential new threats to humans. Claverie and his wife Chantal Abergel at the Genomic and Structural Information laboratory at Aix-Marseille University in France on Sept. 25. Photographer: Jeremy Suyker/Bloomberg More from Bloomberg - [Cyber Bulletin]( for coverage of the shadow world of hackers and cyber-espionage - [Bloomberg Opinion]( for a roundup of our most vital opinions on business, politics, economics, tech and more - [Next Africa](, a twice-weekly newsletter on where the continent stands now — and where it’s headed - [Economics Daily]( for what the changing landscape means for policy makers, investors and you - [Green Daily]( for the latest in climate news, zero-emission tech and green finance - Explore more newsletters at [Bloomberg.com](. Follow Us Like getting this newsletter? [Subscribe to Bloomberg.com]( for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and subscriber-only insights. Want to sponsor this newsletter? [Get in touch here](. You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Balance of Power newsletter. If a friend forwarded you this message, [sign up here]( to get it in your inbox. [Unsubscribe]( [Bloomberg.com]( [Contact Us]( Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10022 [Ads Powered By Liveintent]( [Ad Choices](