Most powerful man since Mao
THE vote makes President Xi China’s most powerful ruler since Chairman Mao.
It also undoes the system of ‘collective leadership’ introduced to avoid a repeat of Mao’s long and bloody reign.
The founding father of the People’s Republic of China, Mao ruled from when he seized power in 1949 to his death in 1976.
He introduced dramatic and disastrous reforms as he established his own brand of Communism.
The Great Leap Forward – a mass mobilisation of labour to improve production – resulted in famine and the deaths of millions.
In 1966 Mao launched the Cultural Revolution to purge the country of opponents. It crippled the economy and thrust China into ten years of turmoil, bloodshed and hunger. It also saw the imprisonment of a huge number of citizens.
His final years saw attempts to build bridges with the US, Japan and Europe, but his reputation could never be restored.
Such was Mao’s devastating impact that in 1982 a law was passed limiting presidents to two terms.
Its reversal yesterday will raise fears of a return to the horrors of Mao’s reign.