President for life

put into practice for the last 25 years. Thus, Jiang Zemin bowed out, albeit reluctantly, to allow Hu Jintao to become the next leader and Hu, in turn, stepped down to make way for Xi Jinping. That provided greater predictability and meant that no one had to die for there to be a change in leadership.

By abolishing term limits, the party is resurrecting the problem of succession. One day, Xi will be replaced. But how will that happen? Who will replace him?

The return of strongman rule is evidently seen as the way to ensure that China’s ascendancy continues in the next few decades. But it does accentuate an old problem: how will future successors be chosen? Will China return to a system of lifetime rule? Will there be coup attempts, as was the case with Mao? These are questions that inevitably arise with the eradication of term limits.

One immediate problem is now. Xi will be able to serve a third term as president in 2023, but Li Keqiang, the premier, will have to step down from that post because of the two-term limit.

He is currently number two in now, will at the age of 67 not have reached the customary retirement age. What will happen to him?

Presumably, Xi will be strong enough to force him into early retirement. But then, the can is just being kicked down the road. Inevitably, the question will arise: When will China have a new leader, and how will he be produced? The longer Xi clings to power, the more pressing that question will become, for China and for the world.