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Home / World

China's power move: Critics raising fears about a return to authoritarian rule

By Neil Connor
Daily Telegraph UK·
11 Mar, 2018 10:38 PM5 mins to read

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Chinese President Xi Jinping arrives at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Photo / AP

Chinese President Xi Jinping arrives at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Photo / AP

Xi Jinping has cleared the way to rule for life and set China on a more authoritarian course after the country's Parliament voted overwhelmingly to abolish presidential term limits.

The move turns the clock back on decades of reform and reverses a system of "collective leadership" that was installed following the turmoil of Mao Zedong's one-man rule.

Almost 3000 delegates of China's National People's Congress (NPC) backed the measure during a historic meeting inside Beijing's Great Hall of the People.

The Chinese President was among the first to vote, placing his orange ballot paper in a red box bearing the official seal of state at the centre of the stage.

The deputies then left their seats to cast anonymous votes as jaunty music played during the 10-minute ritual.

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The room erupted into loud applause when the result of the vote was passed with 2958 in support. Two voted against, while three abstained and one ballot paper was spoiled, signifying almost total loyalty to Xi's vision for strongman rule.

At least two thirds of delegates were required to vote in favour of the constitutional changes to allow Xi to rule beyond the end of his second term in 2023.

Observers now believe the Chinese President is almost untouchable.

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Andrew Nathan, a China expert at the University of Columbia, said Xi has "locked up every possible source of power in the tripartite party, state, and military apparatus".

He added: "I have no doubt, human nature being what it is, that there are many party elites who are jealous and disapproving of him, or who hate him, partly due to the anti-corruption campaign and partly due simply to his monopolising power in this way.

In the National People's Congress vote on constitutional amendments in 1999 there were 2811 for, 21 against, and 24 abstentions.
In the vote on amendments in 2004, there were 2863 for, 10 against, and 17 abstentions.

— Chris Buckley 储百亮 (@ChuBailiang) March 11, 2018

"But they have been isolated, cowed, and silenced. Although it is hazardous to make predictions about China, I can see no sign of a brewing power struggle. Xi seems secure."

The ruling Communist Party says the move to scrap presidential limits has received widespread support from officials and ordinary people. China's tightly controlled media have presented it as a routine matter.

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But the country's huge army of internet censors has been forced to mobilise to confront criticism on social media.

Authorities have also moved to silence critics who have expressed concern about a return to one-man rule in a nation that now ranks among the most powerful on earth.


Professor Roderick MacFarquhar, a former China correspondent at the Daily Telegraph and a current China expert at Harvard University, said Xi's power grab still relied on the support of China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) in the long term.

"One bad adventure could lead to Xi being ousted," MacFarquhar said. "The one group that Xi has to keep on side is the military."

The parliament also backed inserting Xi's political theory into the constitution, a feat no other leader since Mao had managed while in office.

The party gave Xi the title of "core" leader in 2016, a significant strengthening of his position at the time.

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An emerging "cult of personality" has seen him being bestowed with a range of adulatory titles, and one local official recently likened him to a living Buddhist deity.

Name game: Xi's seven titles

1) General Secretary of the Communist Party: The most important title
2) President: Not usually used in China
3) Central Military Commission Chairman: Signals power over generals
4) Xi Dada: Means 'Big Daddy' and boosts his 'man of the people' credentials
5) Core leader: Signals total domination over the party
6) Living Buddhist diety: Someone on the path to becoming a Buddha
7) Lingxiu (Leader): Term last bestowed on Chairman Mao, re-emerged after last year's Party Congress

China is 'weaponizing capital' — and it's keeping the head of the US Navy awake at night https://t.co/6ZQcd08IsM pic.twitter.com/s255s4cohX

— Business Insider (@businessinsider) March 11, 2018

The key to understanding China's abolition of the presidential term limit is that the presidency is part of a trinity of posts (party, military, state) through which Xi holds power. But it's been the only post with a term limit. https://t.co/WdoMVHe6sz

— Chris Buckley 储百亮 (@ChuBailiang) March 11, 2018

China's parliament puts Xi on course to rule for life https://t.co/xREoi3UQQw pic.twitter.com/Zoi69iKnWE

— AFP news agency (@AFP) March 11, 2018

An instantly historic picture: Xi Jinping votes to abolish presidential term limits. pic.twitter.com/GGv1QsQ0KZ

— George Eaton (@georgeeaton) March 11, 2018
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