The Economist Asia Edition January 8, 2022

Politics Mayhem gripped Kazakhstan. Big rallies against fuel-price rises morphed into violent protests against the autocratic regime. The president, Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev, dismissed his government, but this failed to soothe tempers. Rioters burned buildings and briefly seized an airport. Without evidence, Mr Tokayev accused foreign powers of stirring unrest. He asked for help from a regional military alliance that includes Russia. Internet access was cut off. North Korea tested a “hypersonic missile”, according to the country’s state media. It is the second report in recent months of North Korea testing a weapon that is more manoeuvrable than a conventional ballistic missile. Delhi imposed a weekend curfew to slow the spread of the Omicron variant, which is highly transmissible but appears less deadly than previous strains of coronavirus. India, like most countries,…

IT IS USUALLY a bad sign if talks start with one side brandishing a gun. And so it may prove when Russian diplomats meet their North American and European peers next week, backed by 100,000 troops poised to invade Ukraine. At stake is the future of a country that increasingly sees itself as part of the West, as well as America’s role as the anchor of European security. As the crisis comes to a head, the risk of miscalculation is growing. Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, has already issued his demands for the talks, which will kick off between Russia and America in Geneva on January 10th, move to Brussels for the NATO-Russia Council two days later and wrap up at the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe on January…

RAPIDLY RISING prices are as conspicuous as they are unpopular. Annual inflation of 6.8% has left American consumers even more anxious about the economy than they were during the pandemic-induced crisis in the spring of 2020. They are gloomy (see chart), even as many of them enjoy rising incomes, bargaining power over their employers—the result of a labour shortage—and soaring house prices (see Finance & economics section). Their unease is a problem for President Joe Biden, whose economic management does not poll well. By one count, over two-thirds of voters disapprove of his record on inflation. The White House is therefore now keen to fight the rise in prices. But Democrats are slipping into a bad habit that often afflicts politicians at such a moment: blaming greedy corporations and rigged…

MEXICO’S PRESIDENT gets many of his ideas from the 1960s and 1970s. Back then Mexico had yet to embrace economic liberalisation or democracy, and state-owned energy companies dominated the economy. As a young politician, Andrés Manuel López Obrador watched Pemex, the oil giant created by nationalising private firms in the 1930s, spread largesse around Tabasco, his home state. Mexico has changed a lot since those days, as has the energy business. Mr López Obrador’s thinking has not. Since becoming president in 2018, Mr López Obrador has repeatedly tried to recreate that antiquated model of state-led and fossil-fuel-powered energy. He has pumped public money into building a refinery in Tabasco, at a cost of at least $8bn, and into propping up the ailing Pemex. His latest attempt to turn back the…

“DEMOCRACY IN Hong Kong is flourishing.” These words, used by the Chinese Communist Party in a recent white paper, suggest a strange definition of democracy. On January 3rd lawmakers newly elected to the territory’s Legislative Council took their oaths. Not since long before China regained control of the former British colony have the body’s members been more pliant. All but one of the 90 councillors are party supporters. China made sure of that. In elections in December, only “patriots”, meaning the party’s cheerleaders, could stand. The opposition was in tatters anyway. Many of its politicians were in jail, or heading there, for their roles in demonstrations in favour of real democracy that engulfed the territory in 2019. Most of those still free decided to shun the rigged polls. Turnout was…

INVESTORS’ ENTHUSIASM for financing the green transition is growing—just look at the surge of interest in the electric-car industry. Tesla’s shares rose by 50% in 2021; those of CATL, China’s battery giant, rose by 68%. Yet if you look more closely, you will find huge problems. If the world is to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, investment will need to more than double, to $5trn a year. And fund management is rife with “green-washing”. Sustainability-rating schemes have proliferated but are wildly inconsistent, while many funds mislead investors about their green credentials. To the rescue has come the European Union, which has devised a new labelling system, or taxonomy, that sorts the economy into activities it deems environmentally sustainable, from the installation of heat pumps to the anaerobic digestion of sewage…