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CNN

RLK: First of all, we have to understand it in context. There are twenty-one different clauses in this Constitutional Amendment, and the whole point of it is to strengthen the governance system of China. Now China is a party-state system where the party controls the state. Everyone is focusing on the abolition of term limits, and it is important, but we need to understand the context within this party-state system. In October of 2016, Xi Jinping was made "Core" of the Party, which meant the collective leadership of the past was no longer operative; that X was, in essence, for the Party, the decision maker. Then just this last October at the 19th CPC National Congress, his name was put into the Party Constitution as "Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era,”... it’s a big phrase.

[Image Caption/Chyron Top Right]: via Skype Beijing 4:33 PM [Chinese Characters] CHINA PRESIDENCY LIVE PARLIAMENT VOTES TO END PRESIDENTIAL TERM LIMITS CNN Robert Lawrence Kuhn | Author, "How China's Leaders Think" 8:33 AM GMT CNN NEWSROOM

RLK: But what it means is that Xi is the arbiter of Marxism and party theory. That means in terms of being the Core of the Party and the interpreter of Marxism that gives him ultimate power. He doesn’t even need a formal position when has those two and the Party continues to run the country.

HOST: Is that a good thing? How can it be a good thing for the country when one person has the ultimate power?

RLK: There are two issues. One is how it happened: Now the abolition of presidential term limits coordinates with the Party and military, together the three largest positions. So they’re now coordinated because he already had that power in the Party and the military.

[Image Caption/Chyron Bottom Right]: Beijing 4:33 PM [Chinese Characters] CHINA PRESIDENCY LIVE PARLIAMENT VOTES TO END PRESIDENTIAL TERM LIMITS CNN 9:33 AM CET CNN NEWSROOM

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