'Dictator for life': Xi Jinping's power grab condemned as step towards tyranny

[Profileid]

That was only about limiting the King's power to imprison nobles without a trial. The right of the King to rule was still unquestioned. Things like parliamentary democracy and universal suffrage have not been around for that long at all.

Hmm... Doesn't matter too much with the specifics. It was still limiting the king's power,and giving more to the nobles,which you would not see in China. Not to mention this was also way back in 1215, the nobles got more and more power over time and this established the free Anglo-Saxon society you see today.

Yes, absolutely. Basically long periods of glory backed by competent authoritarian rule, then eventually meeting its demise through corrupt and decadent rulers, who are overthrown by massive populist rebellions. China has risen and fallen probably 6 or 7 times in its history, each period of glory was roughly 200-300 years. It's pretty sad that it's shaping up to be more of the same. But at this time, it's hard to predict where Western democracy will end up either when we see that we are about 240 years in to America's experiment, but obviously the remarkable thing about America's political system is that it allows fluidity to change and transform, while an authoritarian system is like a pressure cooker where the problems are bottled up until they explode.

The major difference is that China is heading towards a place now where the population is becoming wealthy and educated, and how that will mesh with an authoritarian structure is hard to say. Will it become authoritarian like Singapore, which is a well run, orderly place governed by rule of law or more of the same like past Chinese dynasties, hard to tell.

I think that's really the biggest question. As I see it, the people or regional govts rising up and demanding more power is not gonna happen.The Chinese government is quite good at keeping order. Liberalization seems more likely to come from the top down assuming people from the younger generation who think differently and were possibly educated in the West get in power. But I'm going to guess there aren't many of those types in the NPC right now.

[zhaoyun]

Sorry, but that notion is too teleological. As you yourself have said about China, different societies and cultures rise and fall, and this includes the Anglo countries - Britain has mostly lost an Empire that at one point covered a fifth of the world, and in the not-too-distant future US power will wane too.

The US is only declining because China is rising so fast. China has four times the population of the US, and a very driven and hard working population at that. China was inevitably going to surpass the US in economic and industrial power as long as it built a society where individuals could maximize their potential, which it has imperfectly done.

But the US is not in decline in relation to any other country in the world. Also, the US has shown remarkable stability even as it grapples with enormous social changes, this has been the case since the Civil War.

[Tooting Carmen]

China is the main challenger for now, but don't discount in the future Russia, Brazil and possibly India (despite what I said earlier).

[Profileid]

China is the main challenger for now, but don't discount in the future Russia, Brazil and possibly India (despite what I said earlier).

HAHAHAHAHAHA.
In 50 years we'll still be ahead of them. Just you wait.

[Tooting Carmen]

HAHAHAHAHAHA.
In 50 years we'll still be ahead of them. Just you wait.

But in 100? I'm not saying in the slightest that they are serious competition for now, but still they've already made substantial progress compared to the chaos of the 90's. (Say what you like about Putin, but he has made Russia much much more stable and prosperous than it was under Yeltsin).

[1R0N M4N XL]

China is the main challenger for now, but don't discount in the future Russia, Brazil and possibly India (despite what I said earlier).

trump is working on revising WTO and kick china out of WTO.

[Joso]

On the whole, a pretty bad move. Not for the world, as it won't impact countries outside of China much, but it's a very bad move for China.

I am pretty sure part of this is due to the fact that Xi has destroyed so many rivals and other factions within the party because of his anti-corruption drive that he is afraid they will come back to take revenge if he relinquishes power. Either way, a bad move for the rule of law in China.

I don't understand this "anti-corruption" thing. How Xi Jinping wants to combat the corrupts? It seems that this is only a way of politicians with more power to persecute their political enemies...

[The Illyrian Warrior]

HAHAHAHAHAHA.
In 50 years we'll still be ahead of them. Just you wait.

Putin bots may disagree with you, but you're right, them fuckers are only known to drink alcohol and that at faster pace than I drink a bottle of water.

[Profileid]

But in 100? I'm not saying in the slightest that they are serious competition for now, but still they've already made substantial progress compared to the chaos of the 90's. (Say what you like about Putin, but he has made Russia much much more stable and prosperous than it was under Yeltsin).

Their central government is losing power over the other republics. not to mention theyd have to correct serious demographic issues to even get their population back to what it used to be. They are far away from the Soviet days and even then they weren't a match for the US

[Profileid]

Putin bots may disagree with you, but you're right, them fuckers are only known to drink alcohol and that at faster pace than I drink a bottle of water.

For Russia to even be competitive in any way they would have to reverse serious demographic damage that started under the Bolsheviks they love so much.Even then they'd have to wait 2 more decades for these kids to grow up.

Their men are literally drinking themselves to death in large numbers or dying in other stupid,alcohol related ways. Meanwhile, the Svetlanas are moving to the US to give birth. The fact NBC suddenly cares about immigrant births if they're white is certainly humorous, but that's another story.