as per some reports, Xi might revive Chairman post. do you think he is going to get that title ?
Chinese Internal Politics
- Thread starter FairAndUnbiased
- Start date
In the Mainland, Xi is addressed as General Secretary Xi, or 习主席. He is not addressed as President Xi, or 习总统. In order to be Paramount Leader, one has to have control over the Party (General Secretary), the State (President), and the Military (Chairman of the CMC). The only position that had term limits was the Presidency until Xi came along. Due to Western influence, people get caught up with the title of President. Fact of the matter is that the title of President is merely a State title, it by itself has no say on Party affairs. Afaik there never has been term limits to the position of General Secretary, it was only the Presidency that had a two term limit until Xi came along.
As an illustration, Wang Qishan had to retire from the Standing Committee at the end of the 18th Party Congress due to age rules, and he stepped down from his party post of Secretary of the Central Commission for Disciplinary Inspection. However being a close ally of Xi, Wang was given the Vice Presidency for the 19th Party Congress, which I shall reiterate is a State title and not a Party position. On paper Wang theoretically has no say on Party affairs as Vice President.
I believe Li Keqiang only stated that he will be stepping down as Premier. There may very well be the possibility of him staying on the Standing Committee and taking on another post whilst retaining his number 2 position. There are signs pointing to him winning political clout over the past month or so, whether it is enough to sustain momentum to remain in CPC elite politics... I don't know, but I'm not ready to dismiss the possibility of Li leaving despite the reservations I might have on his past policies.
Like I've said before, Premier is practically a minor position reserved for the execution of policy. The Premier and the State Council have limited to no say on the formation of policy itself.
It's too early to tell. He is indeed going to retire as Premier. There's no question about that. Doesn't mean he leaves politics altogether though he probably will. It's a long shot but not completely implausible.
Li is also not liberal... Not by a long shot. Simple example:
Li shook hands with openly gay businessman Ma Baoli just to show that HIV (stigmatized as a LGBT disease) is not transmitted by touch. If you know about the history of Li, he was governor of Henan during the 1990s AIDS outbreak there and HIV elimination has been a priority of his since then.
Meanwhile actual liberal Wang Yang deals with LGBT issues by joking about being gay married to US Treasurer Jack Lew
i didn't mean Li .. XDIt's too early to tell. He is indeed going to retire as Premier. There's no question about that. Doesn't mean he leaves politics altogether though he probably will. It's a long shot but not completely implausible.
Li is also not liberal... Not by a long shot. Simple example:
Li shook hands with openly gay businessman Ma Baoli just to show that HIV (stigmatized as a LGBT disease) is not transmitted by touch. If you know about the history of Li, he was governor of Henan during the 1990s AIDS outbreak there and HIV elimination has been a priority of his since then.
Meanwhile actual liberal Wang Yang deals with LGBT issues by joking about being gay married to US Treasurer Jack Lew
i was talking about that guy, who predicted Xi is going to replace. this is a wet dream of some overseas liberal Chinese and anti-China western world. they desperately want to remove Xi ..
Too early to tell. It depends on his needs and the amount of political capital he has. Theoretically it would be useful in maneuvering Li Keqiang into a promotion where he can stay on as a nominal #2 to execute policy effectively.
It would also mean a signal that China has truly, 100% entered into the post Deng era and that there will be no more hiding of capability. It would signal Xi having the most political power of any leader since Mao and that China is prepared to use its power for good.
Personally, I like it. A bigger, bolder China that is unapologetic about its history is in the interest of not only Chinese people but all oppressed people's worldwide. Deng abolished the position due to being scared of historical parallels and as a signal to the rest of the world that China was stepping back. But there's now neither room to step back nor the need.
Xi is not going anywhere. When Xi took office, I was worried that he wouldn't be able to resist pressure or be decisive, that he would favor capital, that he would not put national interests first. I was wrong.
You have to see who oppose Xi and why. In every account I've seen ranging from Cai Xia to Guo Wengui, the reason is, Xi is trying to remove the corrupt, the traitors and the exploitive. They put it as a "crackdown on dissidents" but how come so many of these dissidents happen to have boxes filled with cash? It's been proven over and over with the crackdowns on money draining industries like private tutors, crackdown on corruption and continuing Hu's purge of foreign agents.
So you have to think, if they're opposed to Xi because of his policy, what does that say about their own beliefs? And when you look at their profiles how come so many are escaped officials or corrupt businessmen? I mean is that a coincidence?
Story is bizarre and makes no sense.
General Secretary is China's executive branch leader, and is also always the commander in chief. It is impossible for Li Keqiang to be the next General Secretary without also being commander in chief.
That's without even accounting for the fact that Li would be an unlikely candidate to begin with anyways.
