William Pesek is an award-winning Tokyo-based journalist and author of "Japanization: What the World Can Learn from Japan's Lost Decades."

Just about nothing is going right for Chinese President Xi Jinping's economy this year: Growth is the slowest in 30 years, stocks are cratering, capital is fleeing and the country's zero-COVID debacle is fueling the boldest protests seen since the students took to Tiananmen Square in 1989.