Lifelong rule by China's president Xi Jinping

China's annual parliament opened on Monday  with the expected show of unity,loyalty,and pomp despite concerns about how long president Xi Jinping may hold power.
The report stated that nearly about 3,000 handpicked delegates descended on the Great Hall of the people and a massive edifice flanking Tiananmen Square to display their absolute allegiance to the communist party and its leader.But the routine belied china's most monumental National people's Congress in years,and perhaps its most controversial.

The Chinese officials have proposed scrapping  two term limit for the country's president from the nation's constitution,paving the way for Xi to rule for decades.I believe that this could thrust the country into a new era of deepening repression and ideology or greater uncertainty,as the idea of one man rule,cast off on the late 1970s after decades of atrocities under Mao Tse-tung,returns to the fore.

An expert on Chinese politics at the school of Oriental and African studies in London said that:''You have a political system in China in which the party's legitimacy rests on its being able to deliver a better tomorrow than today,for its citizens''.''And that just grows so much harder with Xi Jinping narrowing the scope for internal policy debate.'' 

Premier Li Keqiang launched the session with a near two- hour reading of his annual state of the nation address,which offered a rosy summary of the last five years under Xi.He has acknowledged''formidable''challenges this year in issues such as financial risk and reducing pollution,but vowed China would ''rally even closer''around the party and the president.

Li predicted GDP would hit about 6.5% this year,keeping in line with last years target and making it one of the world's strongest.Chinese officials have said growth reached 6.9% last year.The government had also reported Monday that China's defense budget will grow by  8,1% this year to about $175 billion,up from 7% last year.I believe the course of Chinese politics will change for sure.

Title   :Lifelong rule by China's president Xi Jinping.

Source  :Los Angeles Times

link:www.latimes.com/world/asia/la-fg-china-congress-20180305-story.htm