US President Donald Trump has praised his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping for recently consolidating power and extending his potential tenure, musing that he would not mind making such a manoeuvre himself, a media report said.
"He's now president for life. President for life. No, he's great," CNN quoted Trump as saying in a speech to Republican donors in Florida on Saturday.
"And look, he was able to do that. I think it's great. Maybe we'll have to give that a shot someday,” he added.
Jinping came to power in 2012, and had been expected to rule until 2023, the Guardian reported.
However, last week it emerged that Xi would attempt to use an annual meeting of China's parliament, which begins on Monday morning, to abolish presidential term limits by changing the Chinese constitution.
As reported by Bloomberg, this amendment to the constitution, that is to take place on 25 February, was announced by the Communist Party in a “surprising break” with succession practices that were set up after Mao Zedong’s fraught tenure.
However, Liberals have condemned the power grab.
Xing Hua, a Chinese scholar from the China Institute of International Studies, who agreed to be interviewed, claimed foreign journalists were "over-interpreting" and "over-emphasising" the move.
However, western experts say they are convinced Xi's plan is to rule for many years to come.
I hope western media can view this proposal in a comprehensive and objective manner.Xing Hua, a Chinese scholar told The Guardian, as reported by IANS
Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Yesui defended this amendment to the constitution, by saying it was “conducive to upholding the authority of Central Committee of the Communist Party, with Xi Jinping at its core,” reports Bloomberg.
He added that this was a way to “preserve unified leadership”, since Xi’s role as a party leader and military chief didn’t contain similar kind of restrictions.
Speaking about the US take on the issue, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said Trump had spoken about term limits on several occasions during his campaign as something he would be in favour of.
“It’s something that he supports here in the United States. But that’s a decision that would be up to China,” she said, as reported by Bloomberg.
There seems to be a good reason behind Trump’s statements. As the Bloomberg report says, a US president can be in power for two full terms under the 22nd Amendment, after receiving the requisite support from two-thirds of Congress and three-fourths of the states. Hence, an attempt to change it in any way would be extremely difficult.
A change in the Chinese constitution, however, requires the approval of only two-thirds of the National People’s Congress, who don’t usually object to the leader’s decision.
(With inputs from IANS and Bloomberg)
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