Judge Xi by his performance, not his tenure

Why is it that the West will always respond to any political event in China with all the enthusiasm of a funeral director? Has China achieved nothing in past decades that merits approval?

Chinese President Xi Jinping could prove the very model of an anti-Mao, and China’s development will proceed apace with improving government.

The way is now paved for a long march by incumbent Xi, conceivably for as long as he can stand the difficult job of leading 1.4 billion people, and for as long as — in some sense — the Chinese people can be happy with the notion of him continuing on.

Xi will be judged not by how long he stays in office but by how well China does while he is at the top. China as a civilization and nation has more staying power than any one man. The quality of the leader is undoubtedly one main factor, but it is only one.

America’s own belief in the redemptive value of term limits merits further examination. In some jurisdictions, it has helped bring in new blood; in others, however, it has replaced seasoned leaders with nonsensical amateurs to the detriment of good governance.

Here in America, an axiomatic belief in the superiority of our democratic system is not at an all-time high. This is not entirely due to the burlesque of a government laid before our eyes daily by President Trump, who, unlike Xi, did not pay his dues at lower levels of government.

Rather, it is also because of the growing sense that what may have worked well in the past may not work as well in the future, even for us.

Xi may stay well beyond 2023 — or leave even before then. At least now he doesn’t have to accept that, with the two-term limit, he is stuck at the top as a lame duck.