Xi awarded 3rd term as China's president, extending rule

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

3 minutes ago

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese leader Xi Jinping was awarded a third five-year term as the nation’s president Friday, putting him on track to stay in power for life at a time of severe economic challenges and rising tensions with the U.S. and others.

The endorsement of Xi’s appointment by the ceremonial National People’s Congress was a foregone conclusion for a leader who has sidelined potential rivals and filled the top ranks of the ruling Communist Party with his supporters since taking power in 2012.

The vote for Xi was 2,952 to 0 by the NPC, members of which are appointed by the ruling party.

Xi, 69, had himself named to a third five-year term as party general secretary in October, breaking with a tradition under which Chinese leaders handed over power once a decade. A two-term limit on the figurehead presidency was deleted from the Chinese Constitution earlier, prompting suggestions he might stay in power for life.





Read more: https://apnews.com/article/xi-jinping-china-president-vote-5e6230d8c881dc17b11a781e832accd1?utm_source=homepage&utm_medium=TopNews&utm_campaign=position_06

[GreenWave]

1. He captured only 157% of the vote.

opponent had -57% until he tragically fell out of a window.

[True Dough]

2. I enjoyed the sarcasm of this response

on Twitter:

Tom Doran 🇺🇦🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🇬🇧
@portraitinflesh
I just bet hundreds of millions of Chinese were up all night, on tenterhooks at every move of the swingometer. But Xi ran a strong campaign, focused on fundamentals like healthcare, the economy and his absolute totalitarian control of the whole of society.

[dalton99a]

3. +1

[IronLionZion]

4. Dictator for Life

Sounds very Putinesque, like Saddam Hussein or Muamar Ghadafi. Trump dreams of such things.

[Farmer-Rick]

5. Yeah China is officially a dictatorship

10 years of rule by one person pretty much takes away any semblance of socialism or communism. But capitalism seems fine with it.

[EX500rider]

6. I believe every communist country so far has been a dictatorship

[Farmer-Rick]

7. Yeah, that's how they turned out in the end

But then many a democratic country has turned into a dictatorship too.

I wonder why there is this pressure to turn supposedly egalitarian governments into one man rule.

[Initech]

8. So he basically awarded it to himself then?

Yeah fuck that guy. He and Putin are tied for the worst human beings on earth.