[Party media have since amped up the hagiography, casting Xi as the father of the nation and the man uniquely equipped to lead. What remains to be seen is how Xi’s new strongman status shapes governance on the ground.]
By
Emily Rauhala
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Chinese
President Xi Jinping casts his vote for a constitutional amendment to abolish
presidential
term limits at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing
on
March 11, 2018. (Andy Wong/AP)
|
BEIJING
— China’s National People’s
Congress on Sunday approved a plan to abolish presidential term limits, making
it possible for President Xi Jinping to stay in power indefinitely and
cementing a dramatic shift in Chinese politics.
At Beijing’s Great Hall of the People, on the
western edge of Tiananmen Square, 2,964 delegates to cast their votes, with
2,958 in favor of the constitutional amendment, two against, and three
abstentions and one invalid vote.
The ballot, which was largely symbolic, came
two weeks after Communist Party-controlled media announced the proposal. It
included other changes designed to put Xi and the party at the very heart of
Chinese life.
It is the clearest evidence yet that Xi plans
to rule beyond the end of this second term, in 2023, taking China back to the
era of one-man rule just as it steps up its role in global politics.
“It means that Xi is now unquestionably a
Leninist strongman,” Steve Tsang, director of the China Institute at SOAS
University of London. Xi, unlike his predecessor, is not first among equals but
“lord and master of them all.”
Though state-controlled media insisted that
the constitutional changes had “won the hearts of the people,” the news spurred
a wave of public worry about a return to the despotic politics of the past.
“It’s a historic retrogression,” said Li
Datong, a former editor of China Youth Daily, a state newspaper.
“Throughout history, only Chinese emperors
and Mao Zedong had lifelong tenure until their deaths,” Li said. “And what came
out of that was a disaster for the society and many painful lessons.”
The move marks an end to a system put in
place by Deng Xiaoping in 1980s to prevent the rise of another Mao, who was
chairman of the Communist Party from before its accession to power in 1949
until his death in 1976.
“If the constitution of one nation can be
amended by the most powerful person according to his or her will, the
constitution is not a real constitution,” said He Weifang, a law professor at
Peking University.
“The legacy of Deng Xiaoping's efforts to
avoid lifelong presidency have been abolished completely,” He said.
Though the power grab has earned Xi
comparisons to leaders like Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russia’s Vladimir
Putin, his vision for China is singular — and will have an impact well beyond
China’s borders.
Since his ascendance in 2012, Xi has moved
quickly to consolidate power at home and trumpet an ever-grander vision of
China’s place in the world.
At a Communist Party congress last year, his
signature theory — “Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics
for a New Era” — was enshrined in China’s constitution. He started his second
five-year term with no clear successor.
Party media have since amped up the
hagiography, casting Xi as the father of the nation and the man uniquely
equipped to lead. What remains to be seen is how Xi’s new strongman status
shapes governance on the ground.
Xi has built his presidency on a bold promise
to “rejuvenate” China and put the country back at the center of the world. Now
he must deliver, experts said.
“Everyone expects that this will make Xi
Jinping a stronger, more decisive leader, but it's also possible that he will
need to justify this change by maintaining his popularity,” said Mary
Gallagher, director of the Lieberthal-Rogel Center for Chinese Studies at the
University of Michigan.
“That doesn't bode well for difficult reforms
ahead: Will the CCP be able to raise the retirement age? Enact a property tax?”
she continued.
“A second-term president with nothing to lose
might have been in a better position to enact these changes and accept the
blame before stepping down.”
Tsang, of SOAS, said the constitutional
change signaled a worrying trend: the elimination of dissenting views in
policymaking.
“This shows he has now narrowed the scope of
internal policy debates so much that no one dared to counsel him,” he said by
email.
“If Xi is right, he will be more effective in
getting his policies implemented,” Tsang continued. “But if Xi gets it wrong on
any major policy matter, God (or Marx) help China, for there will be no one
else who can.”
Carl Minzner, professor at Fordham Law School
and the author of “End of an Era: How China’s Authoritarian Revival is
Undermining Its Rise,” said Sunday’s vote showed that the political norms that
have governed Chinese politics for decades are coming undone.
“The risk now is: As those norms and
institutions steadily erode, how much of the earlier instability could return?”
Amber Ziye Wang, Shirley Feng, Luna Lin and
Yang Liu contributed to this report.
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