How Xi Jinping has become a dictator.

[TruthTheOnlyDefense]

China's ruling Communist Party proposed this week to eliminate presidential term limits, making it possible for current president Xi Jinping to rule indefinitely.

Without a set limit, Xi will be following in the footsteps of communist China's founder Mao Zedong, who ruled from 1949-1976, but also oversaw the deaths of tens of millions.

The most impressive aspect of Xi's leadership - and potentially the most threatening - is his calculated consolidation of power.

As president for the last five years, Xi initiated a corruption crackdown, which jailedsome of China's highest-ranking leaders, and created central leading groups that allow him to bypass regular checks and balances. Xi has effectively gained oversight on almost all aspects of Chinese policy, from military reform to cybersecurity.

He has also increased internet censorship, which is aimed at curbing popular dissent, and implemented the ambitious Belt and Road initiative, China's global trade and infrastructure plan to link 70 countries.

Xi is coming to the end of his first five-year term and is set to be appointed to a second, and no longer final, term starting March 5.

Here is a look at some key moments that marked Xi's rise to absolute power.

October 2007: After spending 25 years in various government posts across China, Xi is named to the country's highest decision-making body, the Politburo Standing Committee

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The Politburo Standing Committee consists of China's top leaders. While it has collective decision making power on national policy, its decision making process and the issues it debates remain unclear.

Xi joined the committee alongside new members Li Keqiang, the current Premier, He Guoqiang, who quietly retired as Xi was elected, and Zhou Yongkang, who was later jailed under Xi's corruption sweep.

March 2008: Xi moves up in ranks to become vice president to Hu Jintao.

he new title, and an unofficial rule that would see most of the Standing Committee soon retire, meant Xi was now expected to succeed then-president Hu.

According to a government profile on Xi following his appointment, the leader had "affections for the common folk" and was well-known for "amicability."

Retired senior officials in Zhejiang, where Xi lived from 2002 to 2007, said he is a "man of action without making shows, an open-minded man with a down-to-earth style of work."

March 2013: Xi becomes president

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Xi's accession to president was essentially unchallenged.

Nearly 3,000 carefully vetted communist party members met for the National People's Congress, and voted for Xi in a rubber stamp ceremony. There was just one "no" vote and three abstentions.

Experts speculate that members of Standing Committee bargain in secret to delegate a president several months before the congress "vote."

That same year Xi introduced his major global infrastructure initiative, Belt and Road, and created the National Security Commission, which he also chairs.

December 2014: Xi's unprecedented corruption crackdown leads to the arrest of Zhou Yongkang, formerly one of the most powerful men in China

© Provided by Business Insider Inc Zhou Yongkang, former member of the Politburo Standing Committee was the first and highest ranked official to be arrested and expelled from the Communist Party for bribery and corruption.

Many locals doubted the party would arrest someone of ranked so highly within the party, but the move actually showed an increasingly confident Xi making an example of Zhou to further consolidate his power.

Xi's crackdown on corruption, his crowning domestic policy, has reportedly seen over 1 million officials, including numerous political rivals, targeted since 2013.

April 2016: State media refers to Xi as "Commander-in-Chief" of China's Joint Operations Command

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Xi now holds the most senior titles, simultaneously, of any leader in China's modern history.

Aside from being Commander in Chief, he is the General Secretary of the Communist Party, and chair of the Central Military Commission. He also heads leading groups on foreign affairs, Taiwan affairs, deep reform, internet security, and financial affairs.

When Xi was designated Commander-in-Chief, experts said the move would be interpreted as propaganda - stressing his control over the country and its military power.

Experts also said the state media's use of the new title implied a level of approval of Xi's continued power grab.

October 2016: Xi is named the Communist Party's "core leader," a title given only to a handful of leaders

© Provided by Business Insider Inc The title "core leader" recognised Xi as the most powerful figure in the Communist Party, and reflected the party's willingness to bow to his dominance.

Only three others have been given the prestigious designation: Chairman Mao Zedong, who established communist China; Deng Xiaoping, former leader who instituted term limits; and Jiang Zemin, who was president from 1993 to 2003, and whose thoughts were written into the constitution - though his name was not included.

Liu Qibao, then-Politburo member and head of propaganda, said presenting Xi with an upgraded title was "where the fundamental interests of the Party and state lie."

October 2017: Xi's name and policy are enshrined intothe country's constitution

© Provided by Business Insider Inc "Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era" was entered into China's constitution, making Xi the first leader to be alive when named in the constitution after Mao.

The landmark addition stated that Xi's thought must be upheld on a long-term basis and continually developed and, according to state-run media, was met with 70 rounds of applause.

October 2017: Xi did not indicate a successor, as is customary, pointing to his plans to remain in power

When Xi unveiled the new Politburo Standing Committee, one thing was clear: none of the country's most powerful men looked like they could be his successor.

All the committee members were aged between 60 and 67. With an unofficial retirement age of 68, that made every potential candidate too old to take Xi's place and rule for the customary 10 years at the end of Xi's second term in 2022.

October 2017: China gave Xi the title of lingxiu, a title only carried by Mao Zedong and his successor

© Provided by Business Insider Inc Xi was formally recognised as the ruling Communist Party's lingxiu, a spiritual term for leader which evokes deep admiration.

The term was only used for Mao and his short-lived successor Hua Guofeng, and signals Xi's authority is well above that of his predecessors.

February 2018: China moves to eliminate term limits, signalling Xi's ultimate power.

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China proposed ending presidential term limits, signalling Xi's plan to stay in power well after his second term. The decision will be confirmed at the end of the National People's Congress session in March.

Experts say the decision could open the door for the president to stay in power for as long as he so chooses, shifting the country towards authoritarianism.

"What is happening is potentially very dangerous because the reason why Mao Zedong made one mistake after another was because China at the time was a one-man show," Willy Lam, a political analyst at the Chinese University in Hong Kong, told the Associated Press.

"For Xi Jinping, whatever he says is the law. There are no longer any checks and balances."

https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/worl...l-leader-since-mao/ar-BBJJmlS?ocid=spartanntp

The guy wants to be God yet is scared of Winnie the Pooh.

 

[khansaheeb]

Xi Jinping is giant of an intellect, probably one of the best leaders in the world, highly capable , if only he would lead Pakistan.

 

[Torch_v2.0]

Bullsh*t Article ,
For US
China is Becoming Russia &
Xi jinping is Becoming Vlad. Putin
This is called Hysteria

 

[Taygibay]

Plus China is very very good at cloning so
that there's a chance to see Xi becoming
the Celestial Empire's Eternal Emperor!!!

Tay.

 

[Three_Kingdoms]

That means Xi has been doing an excellent job during his tenure. Then he alone redefines "dictator" and puts it in promising lights.

 

[Count Dracula]

He will be head China for foreseeable future. has done his homework, purged many and reined in cpc.

On a November morning, elite investigators of the Communist Party of China (CPC) arrived at the Beijing home of a People's Liberation Army General. Zhang Yang -- for years one of the top-ranking PLA generals who served on the Central Military Commission (CMC) under former leader Hu Jintao -- had for several weeks been questioned by investigators for corruption, although he hadn't been formally charged. But when the investigators showed up at his Beijing home in November, they found he had hanged himself.

What is perhaps most surprising about the suicide of General Zhang is that it was by no means rare. Between 2012 and 2017-the first term of Xi Jinping, who in October began his second five-year stint in office after emerging at the 19th Party Congress as China's tallest leader in decades-158 Chinese officials have committed suicide, according to official figures. Insiders say the actual number may be far higher, considering the officially "natural" deaths of many officials who were being investigated or were under detention.


This is perhaps the biggest spate of suicides of top Communist Party officials in China since Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution (1966-76), when tens of thousands took their own lives after humiliating 'public struggle' sessions by Red Guards.

Since 2009, at least 243 officials have killed themselves, according to a study conducted by the official Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS). What is striking is that 85 of these were in the four years before Xi's ascension in late 2012, or around 21 per year. In the four years since, during which a mass corruption campaign dominated Chinese politics and thousands of officials were purged, that number doubled. In this time, 158 suicides, or 39 a year, were recorded.

"It is stressful to be a CPC official these days, and there is definitely a trend of an increasing number of suicides," notes Maya Wang, a researcher at Human Rights Watch in Hong Kong who has studied the party's corruption crackdown. Wang adds that "many of those who kill themselves are under some form of investigation, and one reason, people speculate, is that if they take their own lives, the investigations stop", and they can thus protect their associates, families and their assets.

The jump in suicides coincides with the sweeping corruption crackdown unleashed by Xi and supervised by his right-hand man, Wang Qishan, who headed the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) until October. Under Wang, Party Central has expanded the scope of investigations as well as the CPC's unique practice of probing officials which is called "Shuanggui", a reference to a designated time and location where officials are kept while being investigated through an extra-judicial process reserved only for party members.

While under investigation-which usually ends in conviction, as the CCDI rarely begins cases until and unless a dossier of usually impossible-to-overturn charges is readied - officials are not imprisoned but kept at home, as was the case of the PLA general, or in hotels or undisclosed locations used by the CCDI. In this time, they are in a black hole-for months, their families do not know where they are detained, until they are finally transferred to a prison and the legal process begins, although the party verdict has essentially already been reached.

Shuanggui, noted a December 2016 Human Rights Watch study on the opaque system, relies on "getting confessions by placing those accused under huge psychological stress". "The indefinite isolation of Shuanggui-which itself can amount to torture-causes detainees' minds to collapse after three to five days and answer everything you ask," a CCDI officer was quoted as saying in the report.

The study quotes a former CPC official, Yang Zeyu,who was put under Shuanggui in December 2015. "The judge in charge of my case told me, in private, that right now we have to fight corruption, so we need to employ these illegal and extraordinary channels. Otherwise, we cannot catch the bad guys."

According to one of the few official studies into suicides of party officials, more than 243 officials have killed themselves since 2009. According to the Institute of Psychology at CASS, the average number doubled in the period after 2013, to around 40 a year. The number peaked at 59 in 2014, coinciding with the height of the crackdown. The opacity of China's system means the real number is possibly higher. The study found that of the 243, 140 killed themselves by jumping off buildings, either at their workplace or at home, and 44 hanged themselves. Twenty-six consumed poison, 12 drowned and six cut their wrists. Most were in the 45-55 age group, suggesting they were relatively experienced or senior. Not all were under investigation. Most were male. Only three were female-including a customs director accused of corruption, a director of a foreign affairs department in Anhui province, and an official in northeastern Shandong.

The PLA, which has emerged as one of the targets of Xi's corruption crackdown, has also grappled with a string of suicides. Most notable was the hanging of General Zhang, who was the third senior officer to take his own life under a cloud of suspicion. Major General Chen Jie, a senior political commissar in the PLA's southern command, died after taking an overdose of sleeping pills. His death followed a naval officer, Senior Captain Li Fuwen, jumping off the roof of a naval complex in Beijing.

Xi is now planning to overhaul the investigative apparatus, with the CCDI this year replaced by a more powerful National Supervisory Commission.

What this means for the Shuanggui system is unclear; some have suggested that moving the investigatory body out of the opaque CCDI to a national-level commission could bring some transparency. Wang Qishan-who retired in October from the Politburo but has been named as a delegate for the March annual parliament session suggesting he could still have a role in government-could retain some control over its functioning.

"Setting up the commission could be positive but I would be sceptical," says Maya Wang of Human Rights Watch. "The CCDI is mostly transforming an unlawful abusive system to something that is codified in law but equally abusive. This does not mean more fairness or transparency but more top-down control."

The Shuanggui system may be a key facilitator in Xi's shock and awe corruption campaign that has struck fear in Chinese officialdom, but the fight against corruption will not leave a lasting impact until the opaque system is reformed, adds Wang. An independent judiciary that could check party power-and give those accused a fair trial-a free media and a transparent criminal justice system would, as Wang notes, in the long run be more powerful assets than Mao era-style purges.

But as Xi tightens his grip in his second term, odds are that the party might not share that view.

 

[Khagan1923]

Why are countries where members of elitist families are voted to become President, Senators and PMs calling other people Dictators once another country endangers their top position and influence in some parts of this planet? The western world votes rich people from elitist families into high positions where they work to enrich their family and friends. Nobody cared about China until they suddenly endangered the US position in the pacific and asia now China is rouge state and needs to be dealt with. The same for Turkey who while Erdogan did everything the west asked for was a pinnacle of Democracy in the Middle East now that the is destroying the plans of the US which threaten the Turkish Republic he is a dictator and Turkey is rouge state. People whose ancestors have blood of millions on their hands call other states who act to defend themselves "rogue", wat?! Erdogan was adored by the west until 2015, then he stopped following orders and went from adored PM to crazy Dictator over the night.

You might not agree with Xi but that is the interal matter of China and only the buisness of the Chinese people. Just like Erdogan is ours to deal with if we want to. The arrogance of western states to think their voices matter more over the citizens of those states.

 

[T-Rex]

Why are countries where members of elitist families are voted to become President, Senators and PMs calling other people Dictators once another country endangers their top position and influence in some parts of this planet? The western world votes rich people from elitist families into high positions where they work to enrich their family and friends. Nobody cared about China until they suddenly endangered the US position in the pacific and asia now China is rouge state and needs to be dealt with. The same for Turkey who while Erdogan did everything the west asked for was a pinnacle of Democracy in the Middle East now that the is destroying the plans of the US which threaten the Turkish Republic he is a dictator and Turkey is rouge state. People whose ancestors have blood of millions on their hands call other states who act to defend themselves "rogue", wat?! Erdogan was adored by the west until 2015, then he stopped following orders and went from adored PM to crazy Dictator over the night.

You might not agree with Xi but that is the interal matter of China and only the buisness of the Chinese people. Just like Erdogan is ours to deal with if we want to. The arrogance of western states to think their voices matter more over the citizens of those states.

The best reply will be to show the list of countries where the west and their minions destroyed democracy in order to push forward their ugly agenda. Egypt and BD are just two examples of that.

 

[TruthTheOnlyDefense]

He will be head China for foreseeable future. has done his homework, purged many and reined in cpc.

Yep he is the God Emperor of China but is so scared of a bear.

 

[Dalit]

Yet another enemy.

 

[HannibalBarca]

China Rivals/Enemies...are liking it...
How to destroy Decades of Achievement... for few decades of "more" power...
Seems few guys...forgot to read history...and the consequences of such act...

Anyway, Everyone should get his "Time"...

The Dictators of Yesterday...Are Becoming the President of Tomorrow... And Vice Versa...

 

[MultaniGuy]

Well Xi Jinping is doing something good for his country, so naturally the West hates him.

 

[Solomon2]

Xi Jinping is giant of an intellect, probably one of the best leaders in the world, highly capable , if only he would lead Pakistan.

Perhaps Pakistan with CPEC will be as much under China's thumb as Egypt was under the Brits after the Suez Canal was built.

"What is happening is potentially very dangerous because the reason why Mao Zedong made one mistake after another was because China at the time was a one-man show..."

It's not just that, it's that the attitude drips down through all stages of Chinese society - indeed, the article makes clear that's the point. The position that the top boss knows everything and can't do wrong is rarely good for business; indeed, that's why one manufacturer I met three years ago said he had to shift his operations from the mainland to Taiwan: his Chinese managers became arrogant, kept messing up, and wouldn't accept correction. (Which he thought was a shame, because the skill of the Chinese workers was excellent.)

 

[nang2]

He didn't just become a dictator. His position is a dictator position, a position with full authority. I don't understand all the fuss people are having lately. They probably misunderstood the concept of China president to begin with. It is different from US president.

 

[LeGenD]

Xi Jinping is a Chinese hero, and a man of principles with vision.