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China's presidential term limit

Fan Liqin, in his 70s, was educated at prestigious Peking University. Photo: Xinhua

Chinese intellectual who criticised move to end term limits speaks out

‘I was making these points on behalf of some of us,’ says liberal thinker, whose 24-page article was put up at the Peking University campus this month

How the West got China’s leader, Xi Jinping, wrong

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Xi Jinping gets second term, with ally Wang Qishan as vice-president

Relaxed Xi basks in near unanimous show of loyalty as vote ends term limit

Constitutional revisions receive highest approval since 1999, with voting process completed in record time

China’s state media defend lifting of presidential term limits

Beyond term limits: the other new changes to China’s constitution

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Update | Xi cleared to stay as China’s president, just 2 dissenters in 2,964 votes

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President Xi Jinping casts his ballot in Beijing on Sunday in a vote on constitutional revisions that removed the presidential term limit, among other changes. Photo: Reuters

Xi is changing the constitution, but what’s his endgame?

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Party gives its version of how Xi’s term limit move unfolded

Can China avoid sliding back into strongman politics?

The proposed constitutional amendment shows that Xi Jinping plans to stay in control and is ready to abandon a set of written and tacit rules that have partially institutionalised power transitions in China for the past 15 years or more. Photo: AFP

Opinion | Trade war won’t shake Xi’s grip on power – for now

The Chinese leader has been asserting his authority following biting criticism last year of his government’s handling of the trade conflict. His power is secure, but surely a China that has celebrated 40 years of reform won’t regress to the days when one person could decide the country’s fate.

Illustration: Craig Stephens

Tam has a point: Beijing’s Hong Kong policy will only get tougher

The warning from the only Hongkonger on the NPC Standing Committee should be taken seriously, because the end of term limits for Xi Jinping means Beijing won’t be taking a softer line on Hong Kong any time soon.

China’s new constitution befits a nation on the rise

The latest amendments, of which the controversial removal of presidential term limits was one, show a newly confident nation following its own path.

Does Xi Jinping really want to be Chinese president for life?

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Xi Jinping has become China’s most powerful leader since Mao Zedong. Photo: Xinhua

It’s another first for Xi, as leader appraises China’s ruling elite

Chinese President Xi Jinping (centre) leads the members of the Standing Committee of the Politburo in an oath-taking ceremony in Shanghai in October. The party chief recently conducted appraisals of all 24 members of the Politburo in what is set to become an annual event. Photo: Xinhua

Why isn’t White House criticising China for axing Xi’s term limit?

China needs Xi to stay at the helm to finish his anti-corruption drive

The removal of the term limit on the presidency, enabling Xi Jinping to stay in office indefinitely, will allow him to see through his anti-corruption campaign.

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Trump praises Xi over move to end presidential term limit

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Donald Trump has praised Xi Jinping after China announced a proposal to end the two-term limit on the presidency. Photo: AP

Quick Take | Xi’s no Mao … or Deng … or Chiang – so who is he?

The scrapping of presidential term limits in China puts a question mark over what will come next. But ignore lazy rhetoric that likens Xi to an emperor – China’s chequered history of power transitions provides few answers.

Asian Angle | What an unlimited Xi presidency means for China’s neighbours

Scrapping the two-term limit on the Chinese presidency will have profound ramifications for the region. While Asia may have to accept a more assertive China is here to stay, most countries have reasons for cautious optimism.

Will China pay too high a price for ending curb on leader’s power?

Xi Jinping may have good intentions for removing the rule limiting a president to two terms in office but, in the long run, society won’t be better off by overturning an institution put in place to prevent power abuse.

Xi Jinping is giving notice that he intends to stay on as president to carry on with the work of national rejuvenation. But the removal of a necessary check on a leader’s power carries its own risks. Illustration: Craig Stephens

First term limits ... now Xi to shake up the state

The main goal of the overhaul is to “strengthen the party’s full leadership of all areas and all aspects of work”, according to a Xinhua report. Photo: Xinhua

Proposal to abolish term limit for president could buy more time to pursue reforms

As Xi Jinping pushes for the abolition of restriction on years in power, the case for strong leadership needs to be balanced against painful lessons of history

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My Take | Too late to ‘pocket first’ as Xi seeks to abolish term limits

Pan-dems ignored the advice of Shih Wing-ching on the 2015 reform package but now with events in Beijing they would be wise to pursue a different course

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Taipei faces a tougher Beijing if Xi stays in power, analysts warn

Military school students attend a flag-raising ceremony in Taipei. The self-ruled island is expected to come under greater unification pressure if Xi Jinping stays on as Chinese president past 2023. Photo: AFP

China’s military throws weight behind move to scrap term limits

President Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption crackdown has ensnared high-ranking military officials. Photo: AFP

Xi will have no limit to his term, but what about other leaders?

Is more Xi the answer to China’s economic woes, or recipe for disaster?

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Xi ‘eyeing bigger global role in drive to end term limits’

The presidency is a largely nominal office in the Chinese political system but it has advantages for a leader looking for a bigger role in world affairs, analysts say.

In Chinese politics, real power rests in the positions of the Communist Party’s general secretary and the chairman of the Central Military Commission, with the presidency the least important of the three offices Xi Jinping holds. Illustration: Henry Wong 
In Chinese politics, real power rests in the positions of the Communist Party’s general secretary and the chairman of the Central Military Commission, with the presidency the least important of the three offices Xi Jinping holds. Illustration: Henry Wong 

End to term limits at top ‘may be start of global backlash for China’

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Will China’s next vice-president have more power?

Xi in power beyond 2023 may be good for China, but don’t tell the West

China’s move to scrap the presidential term limit cannot be seen purely in black and white terms. Strongman leadership is not reviled in Asia the way it is in the West.

If Xi does stay in power beyond two terms, he could prove the very model of an anti-Mao, and China’s development could proceed apace. Illustration: Craig Stephens