February 26, 2018

And they say there are no more jobs for life...

located:	China
editor:	Gurmeet Singh

It's a truism that there are no more jobs for life. That is true unless you're a dictator. Hardly anyone can expect to remain a teacher or a banker or a coal-miner for very long, given the nature of our economies, and the changing face of work. But if you're a dictator, this is proving to be a golden age.

Xi Xinping, backed by the Communist Party of China, has eliminated the consecutive two-term restriction on the Presidency and Vice-Presidency. This has effectively revealed, in very clear terms, that Xi Xinping intends to serve a life-term as dictator of China.

Experts on Chinese politics, as well as leaders in the fields of international relations, have decried the move as a clear step forward into dictatorship, and something that will make opposition and dissidence in the country even harder.

“It will get worse, for sure … the consequences will be very severe,” warned Wu’er Kaixi, a prominent Chinese dissident who fled into exile after helping lead the 1989 Tiananmen protests.

Further dissidents also decried the west's enabling of Xinping, showering him with gifts and praise, instead of standing up to his obvious expansionism.

Xinping's signature piece of foreign policy is to build infrastructure linking China to other countries, including building within those countries, such as Pakistan. The plans are already being described as neo-colonialist and a fantasy within the country – a signal that we should all be worried.