The elimination of the two-term limit strengthens the president and reveals the country's regression in political matters
CRIMINAL SCAFFOLD SHANGHAI.
Domingo, 4 March 2018
President Xi Jinping is greeted with applause upon arrival at the political conference held
yesterday in Beijing. :: Wang Zhao / afp
Now yes. China is about to crown a new emperor. The annual meeting of the National People's Congress of China begins tomorrow (ANP), the highest legislative body of the country, and everything indicates that its almost 3.000 delegates will approve the elimination of the two-term limit that the Constitution imposes on the president and vice president of the second world power, as proposed at the end of January by the Central Committee of the Communist Party. In this way, Xi Jinping, who already accumulates almost as much power as the founder of the People's Republic, Mao Zedong, You can stay in power as long as you want.. Even for life.
The decision has important implications for everyone. First of all, why, despite the fact that the leadership of the Communist Party has never been questioned or endangered, The change in the Executive did guarantee slight changes in the course of the country. Now, nevertheless, Xi will be able to monopolize all power - he is general secretary of the Party, head of state, and president of the Central Military Commission- no time limitation. That, according to the official press controlled by the Government, will give China the stability it needs to continue developing the roadmap that the new Great Helmsman has designed to turn the country into the great superpower of the 21st century.
Nevertheless, The history of China itself is a good reminder of the dangers this entails.. In fact, the limit of two five-year terms was introduced, precisely, to prevent despotism and the vision of one man -Mao- could lead the country to the abyss. Something that happened with the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution between the decades of 1950 and 1970. Despite being a strict dictatorship, Since then, China has distanced itself from hereditary systems such as those of North Korea or Cuba to develop a model that guarantees the power of the Communist Party., but that also encourages the replacement of the old generations so that fresh ideas can enter. This has allowed him to make up for the time lost with Mao in the economic field and timidly approach the ideal of the Rule of Law..
But, now, the Asian giant takes a big step back. «Only the Chinese people can decide their future», stated one of the spokespersons for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs when the foreign press asked him about the measure., aware of the avalanche of criticism he has received. Nevertheless, The people in China have no voice or vote. In fact, The censors have had to work overtime these days to eliminate from social networks all references to the initiative that, with his usual cunning, Chinese Internet users have devised in their peculiar game of cat and mouse: from mentions to the emperor, even images of Winnie The Pooh, a bear that has long been identified with Xi.
The Chinese president has little of the lovable character of his cartoon version. Although in 2012 Many analysts described him as the reformist that China needed to advance in the field of freedoms and the opening of its market., Xi has proven to have a character almost as ruthless as Mao's: He has purged his adversaries, ha fomentado un culto a su persona que se reflejará en la inclusión del 'Pensamiento de Xi Jinping para una Nueva Era' in the Constitution, has tightened both censorship and the requirement to swear loyalty to the Party, and has fought all types of activism: from the most belligerent politician, even the most innocuous social.
In any case, His confirmation on the new communist throne is not exclusively an internal matter. It will have an impact on a global scale. Because Xi is also the Chinese president who has managed to give greater global relevance to the country. In every way. He has been the architect of the ambitious project of the New Silk Road, which entails the creation of a new world order structured not with the West as the central pivot but with the developing world as the backbone of the economic opportunities of this century. From Asia to Latin America, passing through Africa, With Xi at the helm, China has become the only superpower capable of standing up to the hegemony of the United States, that now is cracking.
military tension
But, although China proudly claims that it has not intervened in any war since the brief invasion of Vietnam in 1979, the truth is that, with Xi in charge, The Defense budget and the ambition to modernize the country's war apparatus have increased considerably, proportionally to the military tension with its neighbors has increased considerably. Above all, in the South and East China Seas, where Beijing has clashed with countries like Japan, Taiwan -perhaps the territory that will suffer the most if Xi remains in power forever-, Philippines - which an arbitration court ruled in favor -, o Vietnam. In those waters it has created artificial islands for military purposes, and sometimes the skirmishes have involved war planes and ships from the United States..
For all this, and in a very unusual decision, This week some prominent figures from different fields have written letters to the ANP delegates to vote against the measure proposed by the Communist Party. «The two-term limit is the greatest and most effective restriction in place to prevent the domination of the Party and the country by a single person.. Eliminating it will make us look ridiculous in front of the civilized countries of the world and will mean our return to imperial power.», wrote journalist Li Datong. «It's back to the Mao era», criticized sociologist Li Yinhe. «It is a betrayal of the people», said businesswoman Wang Ying.
Same. Delegates will vote in favor next week. Only once have they shown dissatisfaction with a proposal - the construction of the Three Gorges Dam.- and the opposition was not enough to stop it. So the best thing will be to get used to the figure of Xi Jinping, because he will continue to lead China for a long time. Souvenir shops know it, that to the marketing with the face of Mao they have cleverly added that of the new Chinese emperor.
IN NUMBERS
- Mao Zedong
- 1949-1976
- He promoted the cult of his person and launched the Cultural Revolution, which caused tens of thousands of deaths.
- Deng Xiaoping
- 1978-1989
- He undertook socialist economic liberalization and authorized the brutal repression of Tiananmen Square in 1989.
- Jiang Zemin
- 1993-2003
- His political management in Shanghai catapulted him to leadership in Beijing. He opened the country to the outside world and showed social concern.
- Hu Jintao
- 2003-2013
- Represented the transition towards more technocratic leaders. He presided over a decade of steady economic growth.
