SHANGHAI — Xi Jinping’s tightening grip on China had already earned the leader comparisons to Mao Zedong, but they came into even sharper focus after the party paved the way for him to assume the presidency indefinitely.

State media said on Sunday that the ruling Communist Party had proposed abolishing rules limiting leaders to two five-year terms, a guideline imposed in Mr. Mao’s wake to avoid a repeat of the chaos triggered by his radical political campaigns.

The move could allow the 64-year-old Mr. Xi to remain in power for life, ruling as a virtual emperor, and is the latest feather in the cap of a Communist “princeling” who is re-making China in his own image.

Mr. Xi, who was given a second term as the party’s general secretary at the five-yearly party congress in October, has amassed seemingly unchecked power and a level of officially-stoked adulation unseen since Communist China’s founder Mr. Mao.

Even though his father Xi Zhongxun — a renowned revolutionary hero turned vice premier — was purged by Mr. Mao, Mr. Xi has remained true to the party that rules with an iron fist and over which he reigns supreme.

Mr. Xi is the first Chinese leader to have been born after 1949, when Mao’s Communist forces took over following a protracted civil war.

The purging of his father led to years of difficulties for the family, but he nevertheless rose through its ranks.

Beginning as a county-level party secretary in 1969, Mr. Xi climbed to the governorship of coastal Fujian province in 1999, then party chief of Zhejiang province in 2002 and eventually Shanghai in 2007.

That same year, he was appointed to the Politburo Standing Committee.

Following Mr. Mao’s disastrous economic campaigns and the bloody 1966-76 Cultural Revolution, the Communist leadership sought to prevent further chaos by tempering presidential power through a system in which major personnel and policy decisions were hashed out by the ruling Politburo Standing Committee.

The move helped prevent political power from becoming too concentrated in the hands of a single leader but was also blamed for policy indecision that led to growing ills such as worsening pollution, corruption and social unrest.

‘BIG UNCLE XI’
But “Xi Dada” (“Big Uncle Xi”), as he has been dubbed by Communist propaganda, has broken sharply with that tradition since taking over as president in 2013 and now looms over the country in a deepening cult of personality.

He has used crackdowns on corruption and calls for a revitalized party to become the most powerful Chinese leader in decades.

His face graces the front page of every paper in the country, while his exploits and directives headline each night’s evening news.

Shops sell commemorative plates and memorabilia with his image alongside Mr. Mao’s and he has accumulated so many political and military titles — from president, to Central Military Commission chairman and party “core” — that he has earned the nickname “Chairman of Everything.”

“We are witnessing the return of the Mao Zedong era, when one single person made decisions for hundreds of millions. There are no checks and balances,” said Willy Lam, politics professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

“It is very dangerous, because it’s very easy for Xi to make mistakes as nobody will dare oppose him.”

The Communist Party’s power-broking congress in October confirmed Mr. Xi’s induction into the leadership pantheon alongside Mr. Mao and market reformer Deng Xiaoping by writing his name and political ideology into the party’s constitution.

While calling for China’s “great rejuvenation” as a world power, the laconic Mr. Xi has cultivated a personal image as a man of the people who dresses modestly and buys his own steamed buns at an ordinary shop.

Following a divorce from his first wife, Mr. Xi married the celebrity soprano Peng Liyuan in 1987, at a time when she was much more famous than him. The couple’s daughter, Xi Mingze, studied at Harvard but stays out of the public eye.

But Mr. Xi has presided over a tough crackdown on civil society and freedom of speech that belies the chummy moniker — and he tolerates no ridicule or slander of his person.

Social media users who have dared to compare his round mien to that of the affable Winnie the Pooh have found their posts quickly deleted, and a man who referred to him as “Steamed Bun Xi” — a knock at his breakfast publicity stunt — was jailed for two years. — AFP

HONG KONG — The removal of presidential term limits should guarantee one thing for investors — their China portfolios will be increasingly tied to one man.

Markets initially welcomed China’s plan to change its constitution on Monday, a move that would allow Xi Jinping to rule beyond 2023. Analysts say the political certainty should be largely positive for Chinese assets as it bolsters the president’s ability to drive through policies, such as those related to the deleveraging and anti-pollution campaigns. The absence of checks and balances, though, raises the risk of policy errors.

Mr. Xi’s term since 2013 has been marked by a mostly steady economy but also periods of volatility in the financial markets, typically triggering government intervention. Challenges loom, too, including taming the towering debt pile, the threat of slower economic growth and dealing with the aging population.

Further centralizing power under Mr. Xi is broadly positive from an investor standpoint, said Arthur Kroeber, founding partner at Gavekal Dragonomics in Beijing. But the longer-term risk is that “this lack of accountability, this lack of checks, could lead to a deterioration in the quality of decision-making at the top,” he said.

While the proposal wasn’t entirely surprising, it marks a formal break from the party’s succession practices and tradition of collective leadership. Sunday’s announcement comes a week before the National People’s Congress, when a series of constitutional changes cementing Mr. Xi’s influence are likely to be approved.

The yuan rose 0.4% on Monday as risk appetite strengthened and the greenback fell. The Shanghai Composite Index climbed 1.3%, its sixth straight session of gains.

Here’s what analysts are saying about the move to abolish term limits:

• Raymond Yeung and Betty Wang, economists at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd., wrote in a note:

The proposed amendments to the constitution will ultimately shape all economic policies over the next decade or so, including fiscal and monetary policy. Wage growth, financial stability or the environment will be as important or even more important than annual gross domestic product growth. Downplay the 2018 GDP forecast provided by Premier Li Keqiang at the NPC on March 5 as it will carry a lot less weight as a policy goal. The focus will be on money supply and total social financing as they’ll have a direct bearing on debt control, and hence financial stability.

• Ken Cheung, senior Asian currency strategist at Mizuho Bank Ltd. in Hong Kong, said in a note:

Further power consolidation by Mr. Xi suggests smoother delivery of structural reforms in the short-term. A stronger leadership would help him tackle the obstacles on the reform delivery. However, the potential shift from collective leadership to sole leadership signals increased policy mismanagement risk and the lack of transparent system in power transition points to increasing political risk, which could undermine market confidence on the yuan in the medium term.

• Analysts at Everbright Sun Hung Kai Co. said in a note:

Mr. Xi staying on beyond the two-term limit shouldn’t alter policy direction, but underlines the commitment to carry it through. China has been very specific in its policy-making plans this year. Key tasks include preventing systemic risk, targeted deleveraging and reducing credit flows to undesirable areas. From an investment perspective, the best way to play this is to buy large domestic banks. They benefit from a large deposit base, meaning they’re less affected by the government’s risk prevention policies.

• Banny Lam, head of research at CEB International Investment Corp. in Hong Kong, said by phone:

The possibility of Mr. Xi ruling for a longer term will have a positive impact on Chinese markets: the Xi put will likely continue. China is still only half-way through reforms and economic transformation, so policy continuity is very important. A longer term for Mr. Xi would ensure more supply-side reforms and deleveraging efforts, as well as stable fiscal and monetary policies. That will help economic fundamentals and lift market momentum.

• Robert Carnell, chief economist and head of research, Asia-Pacific, at ING Bank wrote in a note:

While most of the stories on this have focused on growing authoritarian tendencies in China, there is another way to view this — and that is on China’s ability to get things done. The deleveraging push, transition to a more consumption-based economy, the Belt and Road initiative, a more flexible capital account and currency, and anti-graft measures are more likely to be successful with a strong and steady leadership. The ability to get stuff done is something that the weak coalitions that govern, for example, most of Europe, would give their eye-teeth for. By all means, lament the lack of political debate in China, but from an investment perspective there are some upsides.

• Pauline Loong, managing director at research firm Asia-Analytica in Hong Kong, said by phone:

The differences will not filter through to financial markets in ways that you can predict and act upon. In terms of policy, the Chinese government will continue to change market structure and rules to make the financial system more stable because now there’s a lot of stress and potential instability. The government will change everything in order to do that. In China, market forces are advisories — if it’s to the benefit of the nation as seen by the government, it will be allowed to go ahead, if not, it has no space.

• Tommy Xie, economist at Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. in Singapore, wrote:

The departure from established norms may raise concerns among some Western investors as to whether China will dial back its political and economic reform. It’s unlikely to derail China’s commitment to open its market. — Bloomberg

WASHINGTON — Students and teachers preparing to return to the Florida school that was the scene of a gruesome mass shooting called the prospect “daunting” and “scary” on Sunday as they urged politicians to act swiftly to address gun violence.

“Imagine being in a plane crash — and having to get on the plane every day and go somewhere else,” David Hogg, a survivor of the Feb. 14 shooting at a Parkland, Florida high school, told ABC television’s “This Week.”

“I can’t imagine, emotionally, what me and my fellow students (will) go through that day.”

Some students and teachers went to the school for “orientation.” Teachers and staff are to return full time Monday and Tuesday to prepare their classrooms for students coming back on Wednesday.

Seventeen people died in the attack. Authorities have charged a 19-year-old former student, Nikolas Cruz, in the assault.

One teacher who has already been back told NPR radio that the shock of returning to a classroom left exactly as it had been during the attack — notebooks still on desks, the calendar still set to Feb. 14 — made her so physically ill she had to leave.

Amid ardent demands by students like Hogg for action, President Donald J. Trump has said he is open to raising the minimum age for gun purchases and to banning so-called bump stocks, which can effectively convert semi-automatic weapons into automatic firearms.

‘RED FLAG’ LAW
A new CNN poll, conducted a week after the Florida shooting, shows surging public support for stricter gun laws — surpassing levels seen even after other horrific shootings of recent years — and for a ban on powerful semi-automatic weapons like the AR-15 used in Parkland.

Overall, 70% of those surveyed said they supported stricter gun laws, up from 52% in October, and 57% favored a ban on semi-automatic arms, an increase from 49%.

There was a marked shift in the intensity of feelings, CNN said — a “massive increase” in those who strongly favored stiffer gun laws compared to those who strongly opposed it.

Florida Governor Rick Scott has laid out a plan to station a police officer at every public school in the state, raise the legal age for gun purchases from 18 to 21 and pass a “red flag” law for authorities to more easily remove guns from the mentally ill or people with violent histories.

The age change and “red flag” law are staunchly opposed by the influential National Rifle Association, of which Mr. Scott is a member.

Mr. Scott, who holds the NRA’s highest rating of A+, noted on “Fox News Sunday” that “there will be some that disagree. But… I want my state to be safe.”

Florida was also the scene of a June 2016 shooting at an Orlando nightclub that left 49 people dead.

Dana Loesch, an NRA spokeswoman, told ABC that her organization opposes most of the proposed gun bans.

Instead, she placed blame on politicians, for their inaction, and on law enforcement — specifically the Broward County Sheriff’s Office, which she said had had ample warning of Cruz’s violent tendencies.

She accused the sheriff’s office of “abdication of duty” for not arresting Cruz sooner.

But in an often contentious interview on CNN, Sheriff Scott Israel strongly defended his department’s work.

Of the 23 calls to his department about Cruz’s erratic or threatening behavior, nearly all were minor and had been handled appropriately, and a few others were being investigated, he said.

Asked about a deputy who stood outside the school building for long minutes even as the slaughter unfolded, Mr. Israel called the man’s inaction “disgusting,” but said he appeared to be alone in failing to respond adequately. The deputy has since resigned.

“We will investigate every action of our deputies, of their supervisors… and if they did things wrong, I will take care of business,” he said.

US media have reported that three other Broward Country Sheriff’s deputies also stayed outside the school and did not enter during the crisis.

Some Republican lawmakers in Florida have called on Mr. Scott to suspend Mr. Israel, accusing him of “incompetence and neglect of duty.”

A defiant Mr. Israel insisted he had provided “amazing leadership,” adding: “Of course I won’t resign.”

Mr. Trump has also proposed arming some teachers, a step many teachers passionately oppose.

Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, told C-Span in an interview that “it’s a terrible idea, period, full stop.”

Children, parents and teachers, she said, “want schools to be safe sanctuaries for teaching and learning, not armed fortresses.”

Meanwhile, Delaney Tarr, another young survivor of the Florida shooting, said she was girding herself as best she could to return to school.

“It’s daunting… (and) scary because I don’t know if I’m going to be safe there,” she told Fox.

“But I know that I have to.” — AFP