(presidentialwire.com)- According to a former Australian prime minister, Xi Jinping may continue to run China for another 15 years since he comes from a long line of leaders who dread relinquishing their positions of authority.
President Xi’s first year in power fell during Kevin Rudd’s truncated second term as Labor Prime Minister in 2013.
In front of 2,300 delegates at the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party in Beijing, Xi began his third, five-year tenure on Sunday.
Former foreign minister and Mandarin-speaking diplomat Rudd predicted that President Xi might hold power far beyond his middle age, possibly until the late 2030s.
Rudd pointed out that the late Chinese President’s mother, Qi Xin lived to the age of 96, and his father, Xi Zhongxun, a senior Chinese Communist Party official who revolutionary leader Mao Zedong persecuted, lived to the age of 89.
So, Dr. Rudd concluded, “Xi is likely to be in charge of the nation for the remainder of his life, even if his official titles might change over time.”
His mother is 96 years old, while his dad survived to be 89.
He is likely to continue to be China’s supreme leader until at least the late 2030s if the longevity of others is any indicator of his.
The 420-page thesis on China’s 69-year-old tyrant that the former prime minister of Australia penned won him a Doctor of Philosophy degree from Oxford University last month.
Dr. Rudd said President Xi dreaded losing power because he had planned retaliations against a prospective CCP competitor via fabricated anti-corruption purges.
‘Xi is 69 years old and doesn’t appear inclined to retire; as a longtime student and practitioner of Chinese politics, he well understands that, should he do so, he and his family would be exposed to retaliation from his successors,’ the author stated.
Since Chairman Mao died in 1976, President Xi has been China’s most powerful leader. In 2018, he successfully eliminated the two-term restriction, thus giving him the position of president for life.
China’s President Xi Jinping shows growing confidence in China’s emerging “nationalist generation,” particularly the elites who were educated domestically as opposed to abroad and who see themselves as the forerunners of Xi’s political revolution.
China has militarized the South China Sea under Xi’s direction.
He also pledged further repressive measures to maintain control of Hong Kong, including more military lockdowns and increased border closures
