In Part 2, I explained why China was not a monarchy or a dictatorship. In this post and the last one in this series, I will show why China is becoming a republic as Dr. Sun Yat-sen wanted by combining Western thought with Chinese tradition.
After Mao died, The Communist Party worked for several years to draft the 1982 Constitution, which included term limits of two five-year terms.
If you have read the Chinese Constitution carefully, it is obvious that America’s Constitution was used as a model.
However, these two documents are not the same as many Western critics and Chinese activists claim regarding freedom of the press, speech and religion.
If the Party leadership is not happy with China’s president, he can be removed after one five-year term. There is even an article of impeachment in the Constitution.
China’s first president was Li Xiannian (1983 to 1988). He served one, five-year term. Then he stepped down.
From 1988 to 1993, Yang Shangkun would be China’s president for one five-year term. Deng Xiaoping (born 1904 – died 1997) was the Chairman of the Communist Party from 1983 to 1993, which was ten years—what China’s 1982 Constitution calls for.
Due to how the Tiananmen Square incident in 1989 was handled, Yang had to step down at the end of his first, five-year term. The only other way to remove him would have been through impeachment.
In 1993, Jiang Zemin became President and Chairman of the Communist Party.
Then in 2003, Hu Jintao became President and Chairman of the Party. His term ends in 2012.
China has now had four presidents serve out their terms according to China’s 1982 Constitution.
Return to China Following Tradition — Part 2
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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too.
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