[Red] China paves way for Xi Jinping to extend rule beyond 2 terms

chicagotribune.com ^ | Feb 25, 2018 | Gillian Wong

[BenLurkin]

The party's Central Committee proposed to remove from the constitution the expression that China's president and vice president "shall serve no more than two consecutive terms," the Xinhua News Agency said.

"Xi Jinping has finally achieved his ultimate goal when he first embarked on Chinese politics — that is to be the Mao Zedong of the 21st century," said Willy Lam, a political analyst at the Chinese University in Hong Kong, referring to the founder of communist China. Xi, 64, cemented his status as the most powerful Chinese leader since Mao in the 1970s at last year's twice-a-decade Communist Party congress, where his name and a political theory attributed to him were added to the party constitution as he was given a second five-year term as general secretary.

It was the latest move by the party signaling Xi's willingness to break with tradition and centralize power under him. Xi has taken control of an unusually wide range of political, economic and other functions, a break with the past two decades of collective leadership.

"What is happening is potentially very dangerous because the reason why Mao Zedong made one mistake after another was because China at the time was a one-man show," Lam said. "For Xi Jinping, whatever he says is the law. There are no longer any checks and balances."

[billorites]

Dictators gotta dictate.

[goldstategop]

That’s in keeping with Chinese history.

I would not be surprised if power was eventually transferred from the Party to the presidency.

[nickedknack]

China, Russia, North Korea...they’re getting to be just like Congress.

#ArticleV #LifetimeTermLimits

[Zhang Fei]

The problem for Xi is that Mao was considered a living god for defeating the Nationalists and conquering East Turkistan and Tibet (roughly 1/2 of China’s land area). So Xi will cast about for lands to annex that are comparable in size and significance. If he follows through, and the targets of his territorial objectives resist with any amount of motivation, his reign promises to be a very bloody one.

[Tallguy]

“I would not be surprised if power was eventually transferred from the Party to the presidency.”

In reality the power will be transferred. But the historical pattern is that the emperor will maintain the fiction of party-control. Xi has gotten to where he is by rapid economic growth fostered by lose western trade policies. Trump has signaled that those days are over. So Xi is gaining full-control right when the rules of the game are changing.

[goldstategop]

Xi wants to be China’s Putin.

And with the repeal of term limits, he could serve another quarter century as China’s top leader.

With the demise of Marxism, personal rather than collective leadership will increasingly define Chinese politics.

[PGR88]

I don’t know who Gillian Wong is, but I do know what Associated Press is.

Here in the West they commonly don’t report real news, but rather editorial, speculation, hyperbole and lies. I also imagine AP has zero contacts at the highest levels of Chinese politics, so this article is pure spin.

Therefore, I don’t believe a word they say.

[Tallguy]

You might be right. However there is 1 key difference between Russia & China. Russia cast off the communist party in a relatively bloodless revolution. China crushed theirs at Tienanmen. So Xi would need to take a positive step to disolve something that was gone before Putin came to power. Personal opinion: Putin would prefer to be operating in a communist-system. But that would be putting Humpty-Dumpy back together again.

[Enlightened1]

BTTT

[deks]

Other sources reporting on Chinese politics...

https://www.ixquick.com/do/search?query=xi+jinping+term+limits&cat=web&pl=chrome&language=english

[Thud]

Maximum Leader! Hopefully Xi has some sons so the position can become hereditary. Coming soon - the newest Emperor meets the Fall of the Mandate of Heaven.