https://www.scmp.com/rss/326512/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com China recently revised its constitution, as it has done several times in the past, but the extent of the changes this time were greater than before, and the impact will be too. Legislators voted this month to include President Xi Jinping’s political doctrine, “Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era”, into the constitution, among other changes. In sum, the amendments leave the framework of the 1982 constitution intact, but they project a self-confidence that... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2138542/beyond-term-limits-chinas-new-constitution-written-nation?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2138542/beyond-term-limits-chinas-new-constitution-written-nation?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 23 Mar 2018 04:59:14 +0000 Many critics around the world have decried the recent lifting of term limits on the Chinese presidency, asserting that it reflects a hunger for more political power. Yet the pro-China camp, in Hong Kong and Beijing, argues that power begets change and that, without more centralised power, it would be impossible to get the bureaucracy to budge. Their explanation highlights President Xi Jinping’s selflessness as a leader for whom power is only a tool to reform China and reassert the country’s... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2138140/xi-jinping-has-consolidated-power-china-still-waiting?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2138140/xi-jinping-has-consolidated-power-china-still-waiting?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 21 Mar 2018 10:00:45 +0000 When I covered the “two sessions” – the annual meetings of the National People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference – for the first time as a local television journalist nearly 10 years ago, I didn’t realise how much media freedom, by Chinese standards, reporters enjoyed at the time. I was called on several times to ask high-ranking central government officials questions. When I raised a tough question about Pearl River pollution to the environmental protection... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2137170/chinese-social-media-storm-over-reporters-eye-roll?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2137170/chinese-social-media-storm-over-reporters-eye-roll?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 15 Mar 2018 04:10:13 +0000 Delegates to the National People’s Congress have overwhelmingly voted to pass a constitutional amendment to abolish the two-term limit imposed on China’s president, a controversial move that will allow the incumbent, Xi Jinping, to stay in power beyond 2023. The question is: will he become president for life? In other words, does the Communist Party want to make Xi a leader for life or just give him a longer term? China watchers are divided on this. The government has kept its comments vague.... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2137136/chinas-president-life-not-xi-jinping-student-history?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2137136/chinas-president-life-not-xi-jinping-student-history?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 14 Mar 2018 09:00:45 +0000 To interview delegates and officials at the annual National People’s Congress in Beijing, interspersed with being interviewed in the international media about China abolishing term limits for its president, is to inhabit parallel universes. Delegates and officials focus on clusters of issues from controlling financial risk and reducing pollution to scientific innovation and business stimulation, plus enhancing and institutionalising China’s anti-corruption campaign with a powerful National... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2136309/xi-jinpings-power-has-purpose-one-person-see-china-through?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2136309/xi-jinpings-power-has-purpose-one-person-see-china-through?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 09 Mar 2018 04:04:22 +0000 The annual meetings of the national parliament and the consultative committee are justifiably top events in the political calendar of China. Against the backdrop of a new term for the two bodies and a controversial bid to extend the president’s tenure, media scrutiny has become even more intensive this year. From subtle rhetorical changes to minute protocol displays, every detail has been analysed to help make sense of what is in the pipeline for the city. Can Beijing achieve its goal of making... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2136222/hong-kong-must-uphold-one-country-order-maintain-two-systems?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2136222/hong-kong-must-uphold-one-country-order-maintain-two-systems?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 07 Mar 2018 21:28:14 +0000 Many unmurmured questions resonated at the heart of the recent decision during the surprise third plenary session of the 19th Communist Party Central Committee to lift term limits on the presidency amid the declaration of a new era under Xi Jinping “thought”. Three of the most important and taboo questions are: Can the system produce leaders? Does collective leadership work? And, to what extent are some of the key elements of Deng Xiaoping Theory being negated? While Deng’s political reforms... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2135784/xi-jinping-making-his-bid-history-books-pitting-himself?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2135784/xi-jinping-making-his-bid-history-books-pitting-himself?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 06 Mar 2018 10:14:18 +0000 Ever since China’s Communist Party revealed that it would scrap term limits on the presidency -- meaning the post’s current occupant, Xi Jinping, can now serve for life -- there has been much hand-wringing over what one-man rule could mean for the Chinese economy. Autocracies, we’re told, never end well, leaving economists and the business community concerned that the reforms the economy requires to return to solid footing, already slow in coming, may never be implemented. There’s cause for... https://www.scmp.com/business/global-economy/article/2135878/asias-record-shows-rulers-can-outperform-democrats-what-if?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/global-economy/article/2135878/asias-record-shows-rulers-can-outperform-democrats-what-if?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 06 Mar 2018 02:57:17 +0000 The domestic and international challenges China faces require sturdy policies if they are to be surmounted. Premier Li Keqiang put forward what appears a reliable strategy yesterday as he presented his annual government work report at the opening session of the 13th National People’s Congress. A confident position was taken, the risks that were identified being perceived as manageable. The assuredness is understandable given the nation’s strong economic fundamentals and array of policy tools on... https://www.scmp.com/comment/article/2135849/li-keqiang-sets-tone-way-ahead-safe-sensible-report?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/article/2135849/li-keqiang-sets-tone-way-ahead-safe-sensible-report?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 05 Mar 2018 18:36:31 +0000 Last Sunday, the Chinese Communist Party shocked the world by proposing to scrap the two-term limit for the Chinese presidency and vice-presidency, widely seen as a move to clear the way for Xi Jinping to retain power after 2023. The proposal is likely to be adopted later this month when the national legislature meets in Beijing. Xi’s wish to stay on is no surprise – China watchers have speculated for months about his intent – but the timing of the announcement caught many off guard. Though the... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2135380/end-term-limits-xi-can-realise-his-chinese-dream-will-price?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2135380/end-term-limits-xi-can-realise-his-chinese-dream-will-price?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 02 Mar 2018 04:15:45 +0000 And so the Communist Party of China recommends to the National People’s Congress the removal of China’s rough equivalent of America’s 22nd amendment – two terms at most for the top leader. Anyone who didn’t see this “surprise” coming needs to have her or his China-watcher eyeglass prescription carefully re-examined. Now the way is paved for a long march by incumbent President Xi Jinping, conceivably for as long as he can stand the difficult job of being No 1 for 1.4 billion people, and for as... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2134754/xi-jinping-president-beyond-2023-may-be-good-china-though?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2134754/xi-jinping-president-beyond-2023-may-be-good-china-though?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 26 Feb 2018 09:40:06 +0000