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By Elizabeth M. Lynch, February 25, 2018

President Xi Jinping, trying to be more Mao than Mao?

In preparation of the three-day plenum set to start on Monday, the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, the Party’s highest ranking body, announced today that it would propose the elimination of the term limit provision found in the Chinese Constitution.  While the proposal still has to be ratified by the National People’s Congress (NPC), which is set to convene on March 5, 2018, the Party-controlled NPC will likely rubberstamp the proposals that emerge from this week’s Party plenum.

Added to China’s 1982 Constitution, the term limit provision limits the president and vice-president to two, five-year terms.  It was put in place in response to the excesses of the Cultural Revolution and the one-man leadership of Mao Zedong, with its goal to ensure the peaceful transfer of power from one leader to another and eliminate the consolidation of power in one man.  But it’s repudiation all but guarantees that current President Xi Jinping will continue on as China’s leader well past 2023, when his second term was to end.  It also signifies that, with the rapid purging of rivals through his anti-corruption campaign, all power now resides with Xi.  Gone is China’s governing model of a collective Party approach, an approach where Xi would merely be the first among equals, an approach that has ruled China for the last 35 years.

The last time a U.S. President met a one-man-rule leader.

How will the United States confront this new challenge is anyone’s guess.  The United States, only formally recognizing the People’s Republic of China in 1979, has only engaged China with a collective leadership.  And as if on cue, last week, the Asia Society’s online magazine, ChinaFile, published a series of conversations from experts about how the U.S. should engage a rising China under Xi Jinping.  It’s a very timely piece and well worth the read, with many already acknowledging complete power in Xi.  And while Professor Jerome Cohen in his piece rightly points out that Xi will eventually pass from the scene and there will be a reaction to his harsh rule, much like there was when Mao died, expect that point to be much further away now that Xi will likely be able to rule indefinitely.

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By Elizabeth M. Lynch, February 15, 2018

On Friday, about a quarter of the world’s population will sit down with their families, eat a good meal and celebrate the most festive of holidays in Asia: the Lunar New Year.  While most associate the holiday with China, various other countries and cultures also celebrate it – South Korea, North Korea, Vietnam, Taiwan, Hong Kong, the Philippines and Asian communities throughout America.

But Friday does not just usher in a new year, it also brings in a new animal in the 12 animal zodiac.  And with the new animal, a new year of speculations and predictions.  This year is the Earth Dog which, with the earth element, is particularly auspicious since the dog’s internal element is also earth.  With earth reinforcing earth, it will reinforce the good.  But it will, unfortunately, also reinforce the bad.

If you are having a baby during this Earth Dog year, well then, lucky you!   A dog is loyal, compassionate, and values morality and justice; an easier kid to raise than a dragon or a tiger.  But a dog can also be “highly dependent, suffer from imaginary fears, and sometimes self-reclusive and silent.”

Thus, it should come as no surprise that the current U.S. president is a dog.  And that is the greatest fear for most Chinese feng shui masters for 2018.  In general, it is not good luck when the year matches your sign.  For dogs, to ward off the bad luck during this dog year, you should look to wear something red for most of the year – a red bracelet, red underwear, red socks – as red is seen to drive away bad luck.  But for Donald Trump, that likely will not be enough.  That is because Trump is a Fire Dog, and fire and earth clash.  According to Feng Shui Master Thierry Chow, “The elements are too much fire [in Trump] and too much earth [in 2018], so that’s going to be causing him imbalance in his fortune.” According to Chow, expect Trump’s fiery rhetoric to bring about “real problems” and tangible consequences.  Chow didn’t say if that also includes his tweets.

Trump aside, the question still remains – what about your horoscope for the year?  That is dependent on how your birth sign deals with the Earth Dog. Check out your personal horoscope here (note you may have to do a Bazi test to determine the strength of your birth year element.  You can do that here).

But no matter what the future may hold, may you spend Friday ringing in the new year with family, good friends and delicious food!  To our Chinese friends who celebrate the new year,新年快乐 (sin knee-an k-why le)!

Happy New Year!