China to End Term Limits for President Xi Jinping

Kieran Hogan, World/Politics Section Editor

As China opens its annual legislature session Monday, the dominating discussion on the table will be the idea of extending President Xi Jinping’s rule. The Communist Party will propose an amendment to remove presidential term limits, which is currently set at two five year terms.

The amendment, according to the Washington Post, is expected to pass unanimously. However, it has many opponents with some raising the idea of a return to a one-man rule, 42 years after the death of Chairman Mao Zedong.

The Communist Party defends the idea. Zhang Yesui, a parliament spokesman, said the amendment is for the purpose of protecting the party, according to Reuters.

The move “benefits protecting the authority of the party center and collective leadership with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, and benefits the strengthening and perfecting of the national leadership system,” said Zhang.

President Trump spoke favorably of the amendment in a closed-door speech on Saturday, according to the Washington Post, saying “I think it’s great.”  Trump was speaking to Republican donors at an event at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

“Maybe we’ll have to give that a shot someday,” Trump said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping claps while addressing the media as he introduces new members of the Politburo Standing Committee at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People on October 25, 2017. On a proposal made public Sunday, Feb. 25, 2018, China’s ruling Communist Party proposes removing a limit of two consecutive terms for the president and vice president. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)