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China Seeks to Repeal Presidential Term Limit
- vincvinc 9y agoIn case the significance is not immediately obvious: this means things have officially been set in motion to keep Xi Jinping in power for the rest of his life, which will mean a continuation of his style of Chinese policies for the foreseeable future.
- SubiculumCode 9y agoYou mean his aggressive and hyper nationalistic policies that destabilizing the China Sea?
- Tasboo 9y agoIronic that this is the president of rooting out corruption.
- thisacctforreal 9y agoIs there no credit for doing it officially and transparently?
- Retric 9y agoThere is plenty of corruption going around. His 'Rooting out corruption' is simply rephrasing moving my cronies into power. People loyal to the last administration and not yours get removed, useful people loyal to the current administration stay. Corruption is simply the proxy cause as effectively everyone is guilty so anyone can be removed. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rStL7niR7gs https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rStL7niR7gs PS: You see this everywhere from China, Russia, India, on one end and Japan and Europe on the other. Even local governments and homeowners associations like to review old contracts as the people in power shift.
- tokai 9y agoIt really isn't. Fighting corruption is the perfect cover to purge your political opponents and their supporters.
- stupidcar 9y agoSomething I think most Westerners who in liberal democracies don't understand is that the notion of "corruption" doesn't really exist in the rest of the world. At least not in the sense of being an immoral deviation from the norm. What we think of as "corruption" would be better be termed "patronage", and it is the natural and default mode of political behaviour for human beings. It is impersonal, merit and market based systems that are the aberration, historically speaking. And, in the absence of strong institutions preventing it, societies inevitably revert to being patronage-based. For example, imagine you are interviewing two people for a job. One is an extremely well-qualified and capable stranger. The other is a mediocre candidate, but is the son of a friend of your uncle. Who do you give the job to? For many people in the world, the idea that you would even consider not giving the job to the son of your uncle's friend is heresy. And they would not consider that attitude in any sense immoral or improper. Indeed, being in a position to help yourself and your acquaintances, and instead choosing to assist a stranger would instead be the perverse choice. In a wider sense, within patrimonial societies there is never any question of ending patronage altogether. Instead, elite patronage networks compete with each other, and "anti-corruption" drives are about the dominant patronage-network cementing power and punishing another. We often see this in countries where every change in the government is accompanied by the prosecution of the old leaders for corruption by the new, only for the new themselves to be prosecuted a few years later upon leaving office. Xi's efforts might be presented as being "anti-corruption" in nature, but they are very much about securing the position of himself and his patronage network. If he was serious about stopping corruption altogether, he would be concentrating on reforming China's institutions to make them more transparent, more merit-based and less susceptible to centralised political control. Instead, he's removing obstacles to himself and his patrons remaining in power indefinitely.
- rayiner 9y agoThis is a really great explanation.
- vikiomega9 9y agoAnd how does this notion of corruption compare to systems such as lobbying? > son of your uncle's friend And for the point of discussion how is this any different from the privileged power structures?
- enitihas 9y agoGiven that he was given the same status as Mao by including Xi Jinping thought in the Chinese Constitution, this was sure coming.
- WiSaGaN 9y agoThis is misleading. The amendment also added Hu's "thought". Basically the Constitution includes all of previous paramount leaders' "thought".
- kercker 9y agoXi's name "Xi Jinping" will appear in the Constitution, whereas Hu just gets his "thought" without his name into the Constitution. Besides, Hu's thought is to be put into Constitution after he had stepped down for 5 years. Xi's thought will appear in the Constitution when he is in the middle of paramount power.
- WiSaGaN 9y agoAnd Xi's thought name is the longest, which means he will be worse than Mao.
- baybal2 9y agoShould I add a note of irony? The 19th congress of CPSU was also set to "solidify Stalin's rule for all eternity" it was all but affirmed, but as we all know 19th congress was Stalin's last. Supposedly he died of natural causes, but even if he were not to, it is clear that the amount of people preparing to back stab him was enough to dethrone him before the 20th congress. It may be the same for Xi. It is all or nothing now for the few of his remaining opponents.
- dictum 9y agoWhen you buy the harmony shibboleth, don't be surprised when you get harmony forever, in the form of absence of any opposition to the status quo.
- dis-sys 9y agoWhen Shinzo Abe is serving his 4th term as Japan's PM, when Angela Merkel is serving her 4th term as German's Chancellor, surely it is not suitable for Xi to stay in the office for more than 2 terms.
- Moodles 9y agoAre you seriously comparing Merkel to Xi? Or the political structure of Germany to China?
- geff82 9y agoHaha, Moodles, have you not heard about Merkel jailing the opposition, executing people in the thousands, censoring the internet with the (very much known to her) Big German Wall, and the corruption in everyday German life?
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- dis-sys 9y agoOf course not, Merkel will be politically gone in a few years, she will be slowly forgotten just like many previous German leaders. There will probably be a couple of words about her in the book of history but do you believe she is going to shape the future of this world? ;)
- Jdam 9y agoSome might argue that she indeed shaped the future of this world by accelerating the demise of Europe as a modern and heavyweight force in the world.
- toyg 9y agoWut? The EU in the Merkel years went through some complex growth crisis; she helped resolving them in ways that undeniably benefited Germany and, in some cases, helped the bloc as well. Some of her choices (Schaußle...) weren’t great, but she hardly killed the EU project single-handedly - the project is actually very much alive, with commissioners increasingly flexing their muscles towards the world at large. If anything, she’s managed to keep some contradictory stances together for longer than many expected.
- geff82 9y agoThat should be the sign for the sane investor to get out of China. Rulers that want to stay forever usually get to a high level of stagnation, corruption and suppression rather sooner than later. The status of a supreme leader can only be challenged by revolution, uprising and/or violence. The communist party already has absolutist power - now they get insane. Good luck with that.
- tzahola 9y agoSo you’re saying the Linux kernel would get better if we overthrew Linus?
- JorgeGT 9y agoAn operating system kernel and the lives and destinies of more than a billion people are very different things to manage.
- mtgx 9y agoProbably, at least from a security point of view.
- AsyncAwait 9y agoGiven the junk people wanted to merge and Linus shot down, I doubt it.
- tskaiser 9y agoWe could do so at any time if the community decided it was for the better. Linux being open source means anyone can fork it if needed be. China is setting the stage for an actual dictator.
- aje403 9y agoReally?
- yorwba 9y agoThe problem with dictators is not that they are all bad for their countries, it's that replacing a bad dictator is too difficult. If Linus were bad at his job, you'd only have to find someone better and start pulling your kernel source from them. No civil war necessary.
- CapitalistCartr 9y agoI used to belong to a model railroad club. There were two members who argued about nearly everything; didn't get along at all. Eventually, one of them resigned from the club. I thought: Finally, things can run smoothly now, without that nonsense. But from that point, the club slowly died. It took over a year, but that was the inflection point. The conflict had been part of keeping things moving forward, but I didn't recognize it.
- logicallee 9y agoEdit: super surprised by the multiple downvotes. I guess the connection is obvious to everyone else - so could someone spell out for me what parent poster likely had in mind? ---- Original comment: I am having trouble seeing why this was brought to mind for you. Was the moral of your story, for you, that when members argue bitterly ("didn't get along at all") to the point of one of them resigning, it means things are moving along? Okay but what reminded you of the Xi story - there was really no arguments mentioned? If I extrapolate your lesson too far (I don't think this is what you're saying) it could be that you say, where there is no bitter member conflict, projects die? So, if the members agree that Xi should stay in power, without bitter argument, it is a sign the Party is dying? That seems absurd. But then I just don't understand why you thought of your anecdote. EDIT: I'd just like to understand your point.
- adventured 9y agoIt's the stagnation of very low friction systems (aka yes-man systems). It happens in corporations. It happens in political systems. Take someone like Steve Jobs. He was emperor, in this example. That was particularly the case in his second stint at Apple. His personality sparked friction however, he cultivated it on purpose, constantly seeking it out. He wanted to fight over ideas and got upset when people wouldn't fight with him. Had he not done so, stagnation would be the only possible outcome given his managerial dominance, it would have led to a yes-man system, and Jobs would have been flying entirely blind (his yes-men would hide everything from him, lie to him, tell him only what he wanted to hear, etc). For example, there's a lot of evidence that eg Saddam Hussein and Hitler's yes-men regularly attempted to lie to them, hide facts from them, etc. due to the consequences. Gates and Bezos also likewise cultivate/d friction, despite being emperor equivalents in their companies. Gates liked to aggressively challenge people to combat him on ideas. He inserted friction. He similarly would get upset if you walked away from a battle without resolution (Paul Allen describes that in his book). Putin and Stalin as dictators and personality contrasts, crush/ed friction, and ruled by strict edict. They require/d unquestioning allegiance and obedience, seeking minimal challenges to their approaches and ideas. That's extremely common in political dictatorships. That approach can only lead to stagnation, which you have historically universally seen in political dictatorships. Obama has a good quip about this aspect of political life in his episode of Jerry Seinfeld's Comedian in Cars, in terms of interacting with dictator types.
- gigatexal 9y agoYup. I’m only an armchair CEO but I’d never do business in China if I could afford it.
- azemetre 9y agoDenying yourself a market share of the largest growing middle class in the world doesn't seem like a good business decision. Once China's middle class starts spending more on foreign goods you will see many businesses and companies cater to their needs like how the current status is to cater to the North American market.
- gigatexal 9y agoOf course not but sometimes operating out of principal makes sense to me. For example if I was precision cast parts — a private family owned business that Warren Buffet bought for many billions — and A Chinese state owned enterprise decided to copy and replace Boeing with their own plane as CEO or owner or founder etc of precision cast parts I would refuse the build. It would hurt me and help my competitors but it’d be worth it.
- noetic_techy 9y agoSo progressive. So ahead of the curve. Meanwhile the US is stagnate here with its term limits. /s
- fbytr 9y agoThe world seems set for a gerontocracy. Mugabe flies to Singapore for mysterious medical treatments, but the pattern seems to be repeating with elderly politicians and leaders everywhere. Perhaps they receive much more medical attention than the average old person, or perhaps they have access to life-extension treatments that aren’t widely publicized yet. Regardless, it seems like the case for term-limits is stronger now, than it’s ever been.
- aje403 9y agoDon't worry, The Blockchain will allow the youth to shatter through the vestiges of the old guard with their false doctrine and unite the world with a new global currency, ending world hunger with smart contracts, sponsored by the Winklevii
- narrator 9y agoMugabe, besides being a jerk who ran his country into the ground, is the absolute best looking 94 year old in the world. He looks 50.
- uncletaco 9y agoBlack don't crack.
- jcranmer 9y agoMugabe was deposed a few months ago. Although, before then, he was the poster child for "why independence leaders need to learn to give up power."
- ktzar 9y agoLots of other countries don't impose a limit in this many terms the prime minister of the head of state can be reelected... And some have a higher democracy index than the US, where such a limit is in place.
- tptacek 9y agoThose places also have pluralism values and free and fair elections. China is a one-party state.
- petecox 9y agoIt's a slippery slope. The people of Venezuela voted to remove constitutional safeguards that saw populist Chavez stand as presidential candidate indefinitely. Bolivia rejected a similar referendum but Morales has said he'll run again regardless - based on a court decision that throws the constitution out the window.
- ktzar 9y agoNot all of them. I'm just noting the lack of correlation between limit of mandates and democracy index.
- dis-sys 9y agoMeaningless discussions flooded with brainless terms such as "democracy", "freedom" is not going to lead to anything useful. It is far more useful to actually ask a simple question - what Xi wants during his 3rd term. He already had his name written into party's charter, his name will probably be written into the Constitution in weeks. This already ensures his ultimate power no matter what is his official title. He must be asking for the 3rd term for something very specific. Something never achieved by previous leaders, something is going to be judged very favourably in the book of Chinese history. My understanding is that Xi wants to be in the office so Taiwan can re-united within his Presidency. This will be considered as the whole reunification of China which carries the ultimate importance in Chinese value system and history. Taiwan itself in that process is _NOT_ relevant, it is an island generating 3% of China's GDP with less than 2% of the population. However, a bold however, being able to do that implies the largely withdraw of the American influence from the west pacific. It is THE symbol of the rise of China. He is not just asking for his 3rd term. President Xi Jinpin is asking to be the leader in charge to manage and witness the above mentioned transformation.
- varjag 9y agoI agree that a dictator starting a reckless regional conflict is a safe bet. Be it Taiwan, Vietnam or India, the likelihood of war is increasing drastically.
- dis-sys 9y ago> Be it Taiwan, Vietnam Vietnam? Surely those old US vietnam war veterans are going to cheer up their great grandsons and ask them to be strong when defending the same communist vietnamese government they fought against 50 years ago. Gee, that will be an embarrassing moment.
- varjag 9y agoIt's not like they didn't see Communist China attacking Communist Vietnam before..
- craigsmansion 9y ago
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- kartan 9y agoI have seen changes of power of governments after 16 years. The result is always that corruption is discovered. After 16 years politicians have had time to get used to power and to put friendly people as public service officers. When power shifts corruption surfaces. The longer the term, the more corruption is found. Some parties are worse than others, but all are worst at the end of a decade that when they began. It is my experience, and it seems logical. But I don't know if there is studies about this effect.
- natch 9y agoYou are saying that the corruption is established during the rule (before the change of power) but is more likely to be uncovered upon the change of power, correct? As opposed to the corruption coming about because of the change of power, which is how I'm afraid some people could read your comment if they skim quickly. Assuming that's what you mean, yes it makes a lot of sense. To put it another way, stability of power tends to allow corruption to remain hidden. So all the people who are reaping the benefits of corruption will love the idea of Xi staying in power.
- kartan 9y ago> You are saying that the corruption is established during the rule (before the change of power) but is more likely to be uncovered upon the change of power, correct? Yes. In the corruption cases the involved party is the exiting one. As it loses power it can't keep the grip on the public officials and justice is free to work again. City councils are an extreme example, as they can hold power for decades. > As opposed to the corruption coming about because of the change of power, which is how I'm afraid some people could read your comment if they skim quickly. You are right. It's just that I found the concept so implausible that I didn't though about that misread. Thank you for the clarification.
- Mikeb85 9y agoThe skeptic in me would say that the new rulers try to discredit their predecessors with allegations of corruption. Not saying you're wrong, but you can't assume the 'challengers' to the establishment always have altruistic motives. Lots of revolutions go completely sideways...
- thefounder 9y agoDictatorship and communism work hand in hand!
- nabla9 9y agoModern China has a political system where nobility of 60 million people who mostly inherited their position have the power. They select some of the people who start slowly ascend towards real power over decades. Those who get into power have expiry date and they must step down and let others in. It's not a democracy, it's clearly authoritarian rule of the few, but it's not a dictatorship. There is system a that allows continuity and people change. Xi may do fine at first. After a while the need to stay in the power affects everything he does. Government organization, military organization, economics, even foreign policy. Nobody stays in power without supporters and they except to be paid.
- thomasfoster96 9y ago> it's not a dictatorship. The explanation given in first year political science was that China is a very rare example of a successful party-based dictatorship, as opposed to a dictatorship based on an individual or family.
- seanmcdirmid 9y agoA few red families control much of china’s wealth and political power now. It is quickly changing into a more traditional dictatorship.
- zdky 9y agoWell, plenty of the richest people in China has no connection with the red families. The most prominent companies in China now, like Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent, are all founded by regular people. Who would have thought Jack Ma would become the richest people in China?
- seanmcdirmid 9y agoThat’s only a small part of the economy. If you at everything from SOEs to taxi companies to jewelry cartels to real estate agencies, it’s mostly all red.
- 9y ago
- ttflee 9y agoBrezhnev stayed for 18 years until his demise.
- ksec 9y agoAnd I have said this on twitter, I am often amused and amazed that many, whom has never been to China, does not speak or read the language, has no idea about its history and culture which spans thousands of years , only read about it on mainstream media and then pretend to know more then the Chinese themselves.
- natch 9y agoPerhaps you are mistaking people's expression of knowing things about reality, for an expression of knowing things about China. It's OK for people to know things about reality. You shouldn't get offended by that. How about an example. Reality: Striving for safety is a good thing to do when developing a space program. China: We strive for safety, but our situation is special and outsiders who criticize our safety don't understand our situation. We have safety, but we call it "safety with Chinese characteristics." Here is an example of safety with Chinese characteristics. You see the rocket explode, just as western rockets often do as well. What is different is how the rocket is allowed to launch near a populated area, and how instead of having a self-destruct mechanism on failure, it is allowed to continue straight down into an area filled with houses. (Previously filled with houses, that is. Not anymore). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBJ9ue6GKek https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBJ9ue6GKek Again, the Chinese government would call this safety with Chinese characteristics ("x with Chinese characteristics" is their term, not mine). But that doesn't make this disregard of human life right. One doesn't have to be Chinese to understand that. One only has to be human. We non-Chinese humans also have thousands of years of history, you do realize that right? So people can know it to be true whether they've been to China or not. Apparently, the Chinese government rocket scientists, who should be pretty smart Chinese people who even come from the culture that invented rockets long before anyone else, do not know as much as that.
- rqs 9y ago> whom has never been to China, does not speak or read the language, has no idea about its history and culture which spans thousands of years , only read about it on mainstream media and then pretend to know more then the Chinese themselves. It's easy to ask a Chinese on Twitter or Facebook or even on Youtube comment section. And as a Chinese, I can tell you about my feeling on this: I Don't Like It. I will one day truly respect CCP AFTER they remove themselves from The Constitution.
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- alva 9y agoPossibly an unpopular opinion, but at least it is Xi Jinping. China's system I think is rather horrid but numerous reports over the years suggest Xi is moderate, not an ideologue and leans slightly pro-West. Classified cables released by Wikileaks also point in this direction. If I am off the mark on this, please correct me as I find the area interesting. https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/09BEIJING3128_a.html https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/09BEIJING3128_a.html
- aaron-lebo 9y agoBased on those cables, he was bred by the party elite to rule. He and his family have been the party for 2 generations, the entirety of that horrific stuff has gone on under their moderate watch. Xi is scarier than others like Erdogan and Putin because he's not an outright villain, but that benign acceptance and normalization of humans rights abuses goes on while we buy phones from them and he and the party get further and further cemented into power. That's horrifying, with a villain at least people would wake up.
- hackme1234 9y ago>the party get further and further cemented into power. The party is the power. There is no other power in China.
- joejerryronnie 9y agoNot anymore. Xi is now the ultimate power in China and will eventually bend the party to his will by any means necessary. I would expect political imprisonments/assassinations to markedly increase moving forward.
- paradite 9y agoLooks like only part of the proposal got onto the front page of news [0]. The proposal itself has plenty of other contents that are interesting [1], especially the one on supervisory commission (the anti-corruption body) [2]. [0] https://www.reuters.com/ https://www.reuters.com/ http://www.bbc.com/ http://www.bbc.com/ [1] http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-02/25/c_136999077.htm http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-02/25/c_136999077.htm [2] https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-politics-corruption/china-to-list-supervisory-commission-as-new-state-organ-in-constitution-idUSKCN1G9074 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-politics-corruption...
- ilamont 9y agoTenure for life in leading posts is linked both to feudal influences and to the continued absence of proper regulations in the Party for the retirement and dismissal of cadres. ... During the “Cultural Revolution”, Lin Biao and the Gang of Four did everything to procure a privileged life style for themselves and inflicted great suffering upon the masses. At present there are still some cadres who, regarding themselves as masters rather than servants of the people, use their positions to seek personal privileges. This practice has aroused strong mass resentment and tarnished the Party’s prestige. Unless it is firmly corrected, it is bound to corrupt our cadres. Deng Xiaoping, 1980 https://dengxiaopingworks.wordpress.com/2013/02/25/on-the-reform-of-the-system-of-party-and-state-leadership/ https://dengxiaopingworks.wordpress.com/2013/02/25/on-the-re...
- fspeech 9y agoDeng had a lot of informal power and never held the title of president. Deng's power was not subject to any term limit.
- seanmcdirmid 9y agoPresident in China is a ceremonial title. It was only after Deng that it was consolidated with general party secretary, which Deng was definitely during his reign. Edit: oops, no, he wasn’t party secretary; this was held by Zhao Zhiyang and (after 1989) Jiang Zemin.
- fspeech 9y agoDeng was not the party's general secretary either during his reign. However he was the nexus of the party, the informal "paramount leader".
- seanmcdirmid 9y agoAh, you are right. Sorry for my mistake.
- badmessages 9y agoI am chinese.So sad for this news.we don’t need a king!
- badmessages 9y agoi don’t need a king! it’s a bad news. i am a chinese.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- Osterzone 9y agoChinese internet had been shocked by the news this evening .Now the govermet has blocked all the key words.Xi has became the second Deng Xiaoping in numbers of people’s mind,so I don’t know whether Chinese people can stand out to oppose this.In recent years,there was a Putin Adoring trend in the Chinese internet.I guess this was induced by goverment
- hypertexthero 9y ago> Education on the value of free speech and the other freedoms reserved by the Bill of Rights, about what happens when you don’t have them, and about how to exercise and protect them, should be an essential prerequisite for being an American citizen—or indeed a citizen of any nation, the more so to the degree that such rights remain unprotected. If we can’t think for ourselves, if we’re unwilling to question authority, then we’re just putty in the hands of those in power. But if the citizens are educated and form their own opinions, then those in power work for us. In every country, we should be teaching our children the scientific method and the reasons for a Bill of Rights. With it comes a certain decency, humility and community spirit. In the demon-haunted world that we inhabit by virtue of being human, this may be all that stands between us and the enveloping darkness. —Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World, Science as a Candle in the Dark
- chrisaycock 9y agoI once read a statement that if absolute power corrupts absolutely, then endless power corrupts endlessly. Term limits are one of the most effective checks on a county's leadership because those with power will eventually find themselves without.
- xbmcuser 9y agoTerm limits are needed not just for the highest office but all elected officials. In my opinion the mess US is in currently is because of long term career politicians that are beholden to special interest groups. If they were limited to 1 or 2 terms most of them would care less about courting donations.
- alex_young 9y agoFlip side would be: short term limits impose an artificiality low average experience on a given job and make for less effective leaders. There's obviously some happy middle ground between a year or two and unlimited terms, but there are problems with both extremes.
- mturmon 9y agoYep, California instituted 2-term limits for most positions and it has basically meant that in the first term, they are learning the job, and in the next, they are often jockeying for their next gig, and not serving their current constituents. A 2-term limit on a position with a 2-year term can be pretty hard. A 2-term limit on a 4-year term is a different matter.
- bcgraham 9y agoThe flip side to this is having a legislature who will never have career lawmakers, and so will never have the kind of experience or insight one gets from doing something as a long-term career. It also invites people to run for legislative bodies as a kind of super-credential, like getting a master's degree; it becomes a resume-builder.
- mc32 9y agoSo is this the return to Maoist politics? Hope they learned a lesson from those days --getting rid if corruption is one thing, but concentrating power into a dictatoriat dies not bode well.
- farseer 9y agoChina along with Russia have already been labeled "revisionist" powers by current policy makers in the US government. The Chinese might as well double down on their authoritarian worldview and prove them right.
- seanmcdirmid 9y agoWhy does the opinion of current policy makers in the US government have anything to do with what Chinese and Russian leaders should do? Is governing just about face?
- namlem 9y agoWhy would they give a shit what we think of them? I doubt this even factored into the decision.
- code_sloth 9y agoI'm pretty sure China and Russia don't "double down" just because US gives them labels they don't like. It's probably not what you meant, but as a non-US citizen, this statement reads like (some) Americans think the entire world revolves around the US.
- craftyguy 9y ago> (some) Americans think the entire world revolves around the US. As an American citizen, you're absolutely right. Generally, we think everyone cares about us, and we only care about our own interests. (The HN US crowd is refreshingly not like this, generally. But that's such a tiny portion of the population)
- tonylinn80 9y agoSure, what do we label Donald Trump?
- seanmcdirmid 9y agoA one term president.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- hanklazard 9y agoThis obviously feels like a move in the wrong direction, but at the same time, in a single-party government, how much will it really matter? I'm not trying to be cynical, it's an honest question. Relatedly, could moves like this actually encourage some sort of reaction by the people against their authoritarian government?
- ssdd 9y agoFact that they went to a great length to secure his position means that it really matters. Maybe the relationships that he has build over years with foreign nations is too valuable to lose or there is no suitable candidate to replace him.
- mtgx 9y agoIt could, but if the revolutionary are to achieve success, many would need to react at the same time so the impact is swift and "unmanageable" by the Chinese government. It's not a coincidence that China recently filled all streets with one of the most advanced AI-powered video surveillance systems in the world ahead of this announcement. https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/china-surveillance-camera-big-brother_us_5a2ff4dfe4b01598ac484acc https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/china-surveillance-came... If the Chinese government is able to "kill" (not necessarily in a metaphoric way) any small groups organizing against the government, then it will be very difficult to change this. If Putin succeeded in becoming a dictator in Russia, I think it's going to be easier for Xi to become a dictator and maintain his power in China. I'm afraid it may be more likely for some of the Chinese elites that secretly hate and oppose Xi to start something up than for the population to rise at this point in time. Maybe in 20 years, the frustration in the population would bubble up and they could do something about it en mass. Or China could become a bigger version of North Korea. The advancements in technology don't really seem to be on the people's side either, other than censorship-resistant (a key point, as not all are) blockchain technologies. But I'm not sure these P2P technologies will advance fast enough to stay ahead of Surveillance AI.
- dbspin 9y ago"If Putin succeeded in becoming a dictator in Russia, I think it's going to be easier for Xi to become a dictator and maintain his power in China." Not sure what this means... In what sense is Putin not a dictator already? Despite the illusion of free elections (almost universal in dictatorships), widespread vote tampering, the imprisonment of opponents and prohibition of alternative parties make his rule absolute.
- Alex3917 9y agoThe government should just use an exponential decay like on HN or Reddit, where something can theoretically stay on the front page forever but it needs exponentially more votes to do so over time.
- Drakim 9y agoAs an interesting idea as that is, the moment you introduce the possibility of staying in power forever then it only becomes an issue of adjusting the ratio parameters, something people won't react to like "abolish the hard term limit".
- tonylinn80 9y agoIs the hard term limit really something can't be abolished then? Obama spent years of efforts building something and Trump spent its term tears it down. Can the government achieve anything meaningful like that?
- gurkendoktor 9y agoInefficiency is a feature of democracy: Checks and balances will inevitably slow things down, but they also prevent emotional decisions from escalating too quickly. It's exceedingly frustrating to watch a decade-long battle over universal healthcare, but it's still way better than e.g. efficiently starting a war.
- nasredin 9y agoLMFTFY: "efficiently starting a MAJOR war" The whole AUMF thing is probably not a good example to use.
- fjsolwmv 9y agoYes! If the country has at least a weak consensus, each generation builds on the last, with politicians competing on who can make more progress faster. Resistance to a radical faction is a feature, not a bug.
- ttflee 9y agoThe new proposal of amendment to the Constitution of China, if you could call it, contains large sections about supervisory commissions. This commissions and subordinate branches would be able to oversee and veto any inferior level legislative branches although appointed by the legislative branch of the same level. This means the newfound commission would be a hierarchy under Xi and controls underlying administrative, legislative and any other organizations and persons. IMHO it is likely to become something vaguely resembles ICAC in Hong Kong, or NKVD in Soviet. Xi knows. http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-02/25/c_136999323.htm http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-02/25/c_136999323.htm http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-02/25/c_136998986.htm http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-02/25/c_136998986.htm
- yusuke10 9y agoThis does not bold well for the world (and Chinese citizens) - China is becoming Nazi 2.0. We need to stop buying their stuff. Can't YCombinator come up with a hardware alley in US? - China 'holding at least 120,000 Uighurs in re-education camps' https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jan/25/at-least-120000-muslim-uighurs-held-in-chinese-re-education-camps-report https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jan/25/at-least-12000... - Report: China still harvesting organs from prisoners at a massive scale https://www.cnn.com/2016/06/23/asia/china-organ-harvesting/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2016/06/23/asia/china-organ-harvesting/i... - https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/25/opinion/in-china-the-brutality-of-house-arrest.html https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/25/opinion/in-china-the-brut... https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/25/opinion/in-china-the-brutality-of-house-arrest.html https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/25/opinion/in-china-the-brut... - Furious China lashes out at US over North Korea sanctions http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/us-sanctions-china-companies-north-korea-latest-nuclear-weapons-trump-a8226936.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/us-sanctions-ch... - China threatens Taiwan INVASION to 'unify state' https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/890698/World-War-3-China-Taiwan-invasion-US-navy-news-latest-army-navy-Tsai-Ing-wen-democracy https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/890698/World-War-3-Chin... - China triggers new storm over military build-up on artificial islands http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/01/09/diplomatic-protests-china-shows-militarised-artificial-islands/ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/01/09/diplomatic-protes... - Behind China’s Waltz with African Dictators: Why does China Invest in Oppressive Regimes? https://www.africanexponent.com/post/7490-why-does-china-invest-in-oppressive-regimes https://www.africanexponent.com/post/7490-why-does-china-inv... - Chinese Censorship Moves Into the American Workplace https://thediplomat.com/2018/02/chinese-censorship-moves-into-the-american-workplace/ https://thediplomat.com/2018/02/chinese-censorship-moves-int...
- zdky 9y agoThis is pure bullshit
- yusuke10 9y agoThis does not bold well for the world (and Chinese citizens) - China is becoming Nazi 2.0. We need to stop buying their stuff. Can't YCombinator come up with a hardware alley in US? - China threatens Taiwan INVASION to 'unify state' https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/890698/World-War-3-China-Taiwan-invasion-US-navy-news-latest-army-navy-Tsai-Ing-wen-democracy https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/890698/World-War-3-Chin... - China 'holding at least 120,000 Uighurs in re-education camps' https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jan/25/at-least-120000-muslim-uighurs-held-in-chinese-re-education-camps-report https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jan/25/at-least-12000... - Report: China still harvesting organs from prisoners at a massive scale https://www.cnn.com/2016/06/23/asia/china-organ-harvesting/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2016/06/23/asia/china-organ-harvesting/i... - Chinese Censorship Moves Into the American Workplace https://thediplomat.com/2018/02/chinese-censorship-moves-into-the-american-workplace/ https://thediplomat.com/2018/02/chinese-censorship-moves-int... - In China, the Brutality of ‘House Arrest’ https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/25/opinion/in-china-the-brutality-of-house-arrest.html https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/25/opinion/in-china-the-brut... - Furious China lashes out at US over North Korea sanctions http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/us-sanctions-china-companies-north-korea-latest-nuclear-weapons-trump-a8226936.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/us-sanctions-ch... - China triggers new storm over military build-up on artificial islands http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/01/09/diplomatic-protests-china-shows-militarised-artificial-islands/ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/01/09/diplomatic-protes... - Behind China’s Waltz with African Dictators: Why does China Invest in Oppressive Regimes? https://www.africanexponent.com/post/7490-why-does-china-invest-in-oppressive-regimes https://www.africanexponent.com/post/7490-why-does-china-inv...
- jadedhacker 9y agoI'm not very familiar with the situation in China, but I will sound a dissenting note here and welcome correcting information by those more knowledgable. While Xi is certainly acting in his own interest to remove term limits, term limits are a profoundly anti-democratic idea. A politician that is in their final term cannot be pressured by the prospect of an election which is a, if not the, primary mechanism of democracy. Term limits were only instituted in the United States after FDR terrified the business community by extracting taxes from the wealthy order of over 90%. This was promptly followed by the red scare as the business community fought back to destroy FDR's coalition of progressives, unions, socialists, and communists after he died. One thing they did was impose term limits to reduce electoral pressure on the sitting president by 50%. Note that, on its face, Xi's plan is the opposite of a lifetime appointment. Lifetime appointments are bad because they reduce electoral pressure by 100%.
- dexterdog 9y agoThe problem is that being able to campaign while abusing the power of the office makes it hard for a challenger to unseat.
- jadedhacker 9y agoThat is true, but that is true for incumbents everywhere.
- petre 9y agoTerm limits should be in fact extended to everyone who holds office, including MPs. What other better way to limit corruption than to rotate the politicians.
- jadedhacker 9y agoThis is an idea that sounds sensible on its surface, but it relies on the theory that it's the politicians that are the problem. It ignores how politics really works, which is that politicians mainly take the positions of the key coalitions to which they owe their power. This is not a simple concept. Here's an example of how this system breaks down. For instance, in the United States, the Black population has a big problem because the Republicans actively attack their community which means they stick to the Democrats reliably. However, because they can't switch their votes, the Democrats ignore them. Notice that this explains the predicament of the Black community without reference to individual political personalities. On the other side of the coin, the NRA manages to control the fealty of Republican politicians because it has major influence over voters. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/24/us/politics/nra-gun-control-florida.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/24/us/politics/nra-gun-contr... The politicians line up even in the face of screaming children whose friends have been murdered. That's a tough job. That must mean there are substantial incentives for them to do so. In summary, if you rotate the politicians in the manner you suggested, you actually give the corrupting elements more power rather than less. EDIT: I would be negligent to say that the Democrats merely ignore the black community. e.g. Hilary Clinton's "superpredator" comments in the 1990's that backed the crime bill that vastly inflated the prison population.
- vikiomega9 9y agoThis is very annoying, I honestly thought China would continue to present a very real challenge to American hegemony and keep it in check
- risent 9y ago1. A bad plan is better than no plan. 2. An institution establishment requires several generations hard word. 3. Society will be more fragmented. 4. The big bomb in the future.