DNA Edit: The Chinese Emperor

The Chinese Communist Party on Sunday laid out the red carpet for President Xi Jinping when it decided to do away with the two-term limit on the presidency, first promulgated by another stellar Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping in the 90s. This concentration of power does not bode well for India. India-China ties have been, at best, frigid for the last couple of years. With Xi strengthening his grip on the politburo standing committee, China will be charging full speed with its agenda of expanding its interest in the Indian Ocean as well as in the Asian theatre.

Already, countries surrounding India have fallen prey to China’s deviant economic policies. Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Cambodia have all been on the receiving end of China’s largesse and all of them are slowly learning the heavy toll that cheap Chinese money takes on their sovereignty. Xi’s rise within the power hierarchy only strengthens Chinese resolve to put the pedal to the floor on these expansionist tactics. Interestingly, after taking power in 2012, Xi has shown that he is not averse to breaking conventions. In his anti-graft drive, he green-lighted the decision to arrest Zhou Yongkang, a member of the party’s top brass.

In 2016, he assumed to himself the title of party’s core leader in his bid to amass power. In October last year, Xi put down his name and signature policy into the party’s charter, a move that hasn’t been pulled off by any Chinese leader since Mao Zedong. What’s more, his grip over the media also seems near complete. State news platforms refer to him as lingxiu, a spiritual figurehead instead of lingdao, an ordinary leader. Going ahead, India must expect China to pull all stops when it comes to weaning away India’s neighbour from its orbit. Given India’s marginal military strength compared to China, it should learn to leverage the surplus trade balance that China enjoys with it to hold a higher ground.