With so much going on in our country’s political atmosphere, it is important to remember that other countries are undergoing their own political developments. For example, on March 11, China made 21 constitutional changes, one of them being the abolition of presidential term limits. Constitutional term limits were created by former President Deng Xiaoping, limiting the president to two five-year terms. The question that remains is whether or not the current president, Xi Jinping, will become a dictator, causing China descend into a second cultural revolution now that he could potentially stay in power for life.
The “Atlantic” published an article by Isaac Stone Fish portraying Xi Jinping as a leader that has grown more politically and economically repressive while simultaneously creating an economically prosperous middle class more concerned with their spending power than lack of democratic freedom. Jane Perlez for the “New York Times” wrote that China was heading for a new Cold War with the United States.
David Dollar, a senior fellow at the John L. Thornton China Center, took a far less protectionist look at the abolition of the term limits in an article published by the Brookings Institute. According to Dollar, Xi will not stay in power for life, as Mao Zedong did. The extension of Xi’s presidency will give him a boost needed to address his current policy agenda, potentially providing him with the ability to tackle large issues like the growing income gap, degradation of the environment and financial risks that have been growing since the 2008-2009 global financial crisis, which China largely avoided by increasing domestic spending on infrastructure. Dollar emphasizes that doing away with term limits has reduced uncertainty in the economy, as China’s economic policies will not be changing hands in the near future, additionally giving Xi time to groom a successor.
Ultimately, I see little to be concerned about. The presidential role has very little power in China. President Xi accrues most of his power from the other two governmental offices he holds: Communist Party general secretary and chairman of the commission over the military. The only reason the presidential office was created was to provide a level playing field between China’s leader and presidents of other countries. Since the leadership of Deng Xiaoping, all Chinese presidents have filled the three roles of president, party secretary and military commander. As Xi has not groomed a successor, he has perhaps saved China from major political upset by maintaining his three-in-one system of leadership.
While some may be worried about the growing power of China, allowing for the election of a new president does not ensure that the current direction of China toward global hegemon would change. It could become more reckless as the new president would be competing with Xi, who would maintain the office of party secretary and commander of the military.