China party prepares to allow Emperor Xi

Changes mooted for Constitution would let him stay on past 2023

‘‘ THE ERA OF EMPEROR XI.

– JOSHUA WONG, PRO-DEMOCRACY LEADER IN HONG KONG, ON THE MOVE TO POTENTIALLY ALLOW XI JINPING TO STAY IN OFFICE

CHINA’S ruling Communist Party has proposed removing a constitutional clause limiting presidential service to two consecutive terms – potentially allowing Xi Jinping to stay in office indefinitely.

If approved, the move lays the groundwork for Mr Xi to rule as president beyond 2023.

Already the most powerful Chinese leader in a generation, he was given a second five-year term as General Secretary at last year’s party congress.

The party’s Central Committee has proposed to remove an expression in the constitution saying China’s President and Vice-President “shall serve no more than two consecutive terms,” the Xinhua News Agency reports.

Mr Xi, 64, is currently required by the country’s constitution to step down as president after two five-year terms.

Nearing the end of his first term, he will be formally elected to a second at the annual meeting of China’s largely rubber-stamp parliament opening on March 5.

The Communist Party announcement gave few details.

“The era of Emperor Xi,” tweeted Joshua Wong, the prodemocracy leader in Hong Kong who is considered to have organised the student protests against Chinese rule in the territory.

The Central Committee also proposed inserting Mr Xi’s official ideological framework – the Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era – into the Constitution, Xinhua said in a separate report.

It is already enshrined in the arguably more important Communist Party constitution.

Constitutional reform needs to be approved by parliament, which is stacked with members chosen for their loyalty to the party, meaning the reform will not be blocked.

There is no limit on Mr Xi’s tenure as the party and military chief.

He began his second term as head of the party and military in October at the end of a party congress held once every five years.

The move to get rid of the two-term limit on the presidency is certainly dramatic and would mark the biggest political move the party has made in decades, leaving the door open for Mr Xi to rule well into the next decade, and possibly much beyond that.

His One Belt, One Road approach to international trade is mirrored in a One Nation, One View, One Party, One Man approach to internal politics.