A move by China's ruling Communist Party to allow President Xi Jinping to retain power indefinitely has sparked concern on social media, with the government quickly responding to put out a positive spin on proposed constitutional changes, and censors removing crucial remarks.
Under the proposals, which will be voted on a this month’s National People’s Congress in Beijing, a constitutional clause limiting presidential terms to just two terms in office will be removed, meaning Mr Xi (64), who is also general secretary of the party and head of the military, could rule until he dies.
While Mr Xi's anti-corruption campaign has made him popular in China, the move has prompted concern on social media, although most refrained from any formal criticism and many less-than-positive remarks were subsequently removed by censors. Many people simply posted the news story from the Xinhua news agency in English and Chinese.
"No comment. One term after another," Jason wrote on Weibo, while others made comparisons to North Korea, where the Kim family is in its third generation of rule.
“We always complain that our leaders are not good. How do you feel that now that the leaders are not going to change?” wrote another.
There was humour too. One person on Weibo posted what looked like a condom ad with the slogan: “Doing it two times is not enough”.
Media praise
The Global Times ran an editorial on the issue, and the tabloid's English edition was full of praise for the changes, insisting that it did not mean Mr Xi would rule for life.
“The change doesn’t mean that the Chinese president will have a lifelong tenure. There has been a wide consensus within and outside the CPC that since the reform and opening-up, China, led by the CPC, has succeeded and will continue to be successful in solving the power shifts of the CPC and the nation in a law-abiding and orderly manner,” it said.
Not many critics seemed to agree with the Global Times view.
A group of leading human rights activists issued a statement strongly condemning the decision.
“In China’s future, there will be an emperor without the emperor’s title, there will be monarchy without monarchical institution. This is the reverse of history. This is serious trample on China’s democracy and rule of law, and it is a statement of no to the reforms China had achieved in the past forty years,” ran a statement by activists including former student activists from the Tiananmen Square crackdown in 1989.
One-man rule
Oxford political scientist Stein Ringen said the rule was formal confirmation that China was now again under centralised, one-man rule.
"During his tenure, Xi has reshaped the regime: centralisation of power to the party, in the party to Beijing, and in Beijing to himself. He has tightened controls and repression and wrapped governance into a narrative of nationalistic ideology. This adds up to a transition of the regime from pragmatic authoritarianism to ideological totalitarianism," Mr Ringen told The Irish Times.
"There are now no restraints on Xi except those he chooses to impose himself. A byproduct is an increasing risk of ill-guided policies. It is dangerous when single rulers have all the power. They become over-confident and they become reckless," said Mr Ringen, author of The Perfect Dictatorship: China in the 21st Century.
