Social media storm hits Xi’s power grab: ‘We’re going to become North Korea’

by WorldTribune Staff, February 26, 2018

Social media users, already banned on U.S. platforms, compared the Chinese Communist Party’s move to pave the way for President Xi Jinping’s long term reign to the ruling dynasty in North Korea.

President for life? Xi Jinping. / Reuters

“Argh, we’re going to become North Korea,” wrote one Weibo user.

“We’re following the example of our neighbor,” wrote another user.

The government quickly moved to scrub the comments as Weibo, China’s answer to Twitter, began blocking the search term “two term limit”, Reuters reported.

Others shared pictures of Winnie the Pooh, an Internet meme “that plays on Xi’s supposed likeness to the rotund cartoon bear, an image censors have repeatedly tried to remove,” the report said.

Reuters added that “Chinese speculators pounced on stocks with ’emperor’ in their name” on Feb. 26.

China’s rubber-stamp parliament is expected next month to pass the Communist Party’s proposal to remove a constitutional clause limiting presidents and vice presidents to two terms.

Related: Red Chinese green-light Xi Jinping’s open-ended reign, February 25, 2017

The People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the Communist Party, reprinted a Xinhua report which claimed “The broad part of officials and the masses say that they hoped this constitutional reform is passed.”

Reuters noted that “The WeChat account of the People’s Daily, after initially posting a flurry of positive comments under its article, then disabled the comments section completely late on Sunday. It was back again by Monday, complete with remarks lauding the party.”

Parliament will also add Xi’s “political thought” to the constitution next month, Reuters reported. It was already added to the party constitution last year, “and set a legal framework for a super anti-corruption superbody, as well as more broadly strengthen the party’s tight grip on power.”


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