(Bloomberg) -- Trouble is brewing in China, where people have begun openly protesting against the government’s long-running Covid Zero strategy. Across the Taiwan Strait, Taipei just elected its youngest-ever mayor. Here are the stories to set you up for the week.
The big protest: In a rare public outpouring of dissent, citizens all over China have been demonstrating over the weekend against Covid restrictions and isolation facilities after a video of a burning building in Xinjiang province triggered fear and anger about the government’s long-running restrictions. Read the full story.
The big vote: Chiang Kai-shek’s great-grandson will become the youngest mayor of Taiwan’s capital after a resounding victory for his opposition Kuomintang in local elections and a rout for the ruling party. The win for Chiang Wan-an, 43, and the KMT's strong showing may give the party a boost in presidential elections in just over a year, when current leader Tsai Ing-wen must step down.
The big migration: Winter is coming and investors are flying north. That, at least, is the emerging consensus of strategists at banks such as Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Societe Generale, with the recent rally in Chinese shares an early sign of a potential bull run next year in North Asia that would draw investment away from India and Southeast Asia.
The big cull: It’s reached that stage in the World Cup where fans are straining their brains with mental arithmetic to try to work out who needs to do what to get through to the next round. For Japan it’s crunch time today, when a victory over Costa Rica would almost certainly guarantee a place in the knockout stage, setting up a mighty showdown between European heavyweights Germany and Spain later in the day. South Korea needs a win against Ghana to keep their campaign on track, while Australia still has much to do after losing its opener.
Read: A World Cup of Political Symbolism in Silence
The big data: There’s no respite for China’s economy from the weak global environment and the continued domestic hammering from Covid restrictions, despite revised guidelines on dealing with the virus. Expect November manufacturing and services surveys to slide deeper into contraction. In Japan, production data could show companies are cutting output of equipment used to make chips and LCDs — another negative signal for the global economy. On Friday, the latest US labor report is expected to show job growth on more of the downward path sought by the Federal Reserve in its fight against inflation.
The Big Take: In less than a decade, China has built one of the world’s biggest green bond markets, a $300 billion war chest that could alter the course of climate change. There’s just one problem. It’s almost impossible to know how the money is being spent.
And finally, here’s how to get people to stop emailing you on vacation. Now if I can only get that to happen at work.
Have an undisturbed week.
©2022 Bloomberg L.P.
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