The Implications Of China Eradicating Presidential Term Limits : NPR
Xi Jinping
NPR's Ailsa Chang speaks to Elizabeth Economy  Director of Asia studies at the Council on Foreign Relations  about  the decision of China's Communist Party to abolish term limits for presidents  which would allow President Xi Jinping to stay in power indefinitely .
The Communist Party in China announced this weekend it intends to abolish presidential term limits  which means Xi Jingping  the country's president  could remain in power indefinitely. The move represents a dramatic departure from rules that have been in place for decades. And it nudges the country towards the kind of centralization of power that has not been seen since the days of Mao Zedong. With us to talk about the implications of  this decision  is Elizabeth Economy  the director of Asia Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. Thanks for joining us.
ECONOMY: There really hasn't been an articulated reason. I think it is a natural progression from what we've seen emanating from  Xi Jinping  over the past five years - having  his  thought enshrined in the Constitution in a way that was only done by Mao Zedong previously   his  failure to identify a successor at the 19th party congress in October. So I think this is all part and parcel of  his  own consolidation of power. But I also think that it helps  him  because  he  wants to be able to realize  his  vision for the country both on the domestic front  in terms of addressing the anti-corruption campaign  rectifying poverty  cleaning up the environment  but also in  his  grander vision  reclaiming China's greatness on the international stage. And I don't think that  Xi Jinping  believes there's any other leader who is capable of pushing forward and achieving  his  own vision.
CHANG: Is a part of this also driven by  Xi Jinping 's desire to cultivate a cult of personality that's very similar to the cult of personality that surrounded Mao Zedong?
ECONOMY: I don't think that  Xi Jinping  would ever want  it  to be said that  he  had a cult of personality. But I do think that in effect that is what is happening. There was a very significant effort made by the propaganda apparatus to portray  Xi Jinping  as a man of the people  someone who could go and stand in line in front of a dumpling shop. There were songs written about  Xi Jinping . So there really was an effort to humanize  Xi Jinping  in a way that was not the case with Mao Zedong.
Over time however  we've seen some of those same trappings of cult of personality that were present during the Mao period also emerge during Xi period - so Xi's demands that the party and the military and the media declare their personal loyalty to him - that was unheard of  you know  in the previous 30 years - pictures of  Xi Jinping  everywhere  that sort of ever-present  Xi Jinping . I think that too is something that comes out of the Maoist period - and just frankly  this sense of fear that whatever  Xi Jinping  says goes. And if you don't agree with  Xi Jinping   you know  you shouldn't voice your opinion because you will end up in trouble - that there will be serious repercussions.
ECONOMY: Well  I think it sends an important signal that we need to take  Xi Jinping 's longer term objectives very seriously. So when  Xi Jinping   for example  discusses the importance of China reunifying with Taiwan sooner rather than later  when we look at what's going on in terms of the erosion of sovereignty in Hong Kong  I think those are the kinds of issues that we should now understand they don't have to be resolved in the next five years.
ECONOMY: These are the kinds of priorities that  Xi Jinping  has established. And  he 's now basically said - or the system has basically said that  he  has as long as it's going to take to try to achieve them.
NPR's Ailsa Chang speaks to Elizabeth Economy  Director of Asia studies at the Council on Foreign Relations  about  the decision of China's Communist Party to abolish term limits for presidents  which would allow President Xi Jinping to stay in power indefinitely .
The Communist Party in China announced this weekend it intends to abolish presidential term limits  which means Xi Jingping  the country's president  could remain in power indefinitely. The move represents a dramatic departure from rules that have been in place for decades. And it nudges the country towards the kind of centralization of power that has not been seen since the days of Mao Zedong. With us to talk about the implications of  this decision  is Elizabeth Economy  the director of Asia Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. Thanks for joining us.
ECONOMY: There really hasn't been an articulated reason. I think it is a natural progression from what we've seen emanating from   [TGT] over the past five years - having   [TGT]   thought enshrined in the Constitution in a way that was only done by Mao Zedong previously    [TGT]   failure to identify a successor at the 19th party congress in October. So I think this is all part and parcel of  his  own consolidation of power. But I also think that it helps  him  because  he  wants to be able to realize  his  vision for the country both on the domestic front  in terms of addressing the anti-corruption campaign  rectifying poverty  cleaning up the environment  but also in  his  grander vision  reclaiming China's greatness on the international stage. And I don't think that   [TGT] believes there's any other leader who is capable of pushing forward and achieving   [TGT]   own vision.
CHANG: Is a part of this also driven by   [TGT]  's desire to cultivate a cult of personality that's very similar to the cult of personality that surrounded Mao Zedong?
ECONOMY: I don't think that   [TGT] would ever want  it  to be said that   [TGT]   had a cult of personality. But I do think that in effect that is what is happening. There was a very significant effort made by the propaganda apparatus to portray  Xi Jinping  as a man of the people  someone who could go and stand in line in front of a dumpling shop. There were songs written about   [TGT]  . So there really was an effort to humanize  Xi Jinping  in a way that was not the case with Mao Zedong.
Over time however  we've seen some of those same trappings of cult of personality that were present during the Mao period also emerge during Xi period - so Xi's demands that the party and the military and the media declare their personal loyalty to him - that was unheard of  you know  in the previous 30 years - pictures of  Xi Jinping  everywhere  that sort of ever-present   [TGT]  . I think that too is something that comes out of the Maoist period - and just frankly  this sense of fear that whatever   [TGT] says goes. And if you don't agree with  Xi Jinping   you know  you shouldn't voice your opinion because you will end up in trouble - that there will be serious repercussions.
ECONOMY: Well  I think it sends an important signal that we need to take   [TGT]  's longer term objectives very seriously. So when  Xi Jinping   for example  discusses the importance of China reunifying with Taiwan sooner rather than later  when we look at what's going on in terms of the erosion of sovereignty in Hong Kong  I think those are the kinds of issues that we should now understand they don't have to be resolved in the next five years.
ECONOMY: These are the kinds of priorities that   [TGT] has established. And   [TGT]  's now basically said - or the system has basically said that   [TGT]   has as long as it's going to take to try to achieve them.