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Xi to Join Mao, Deng as 'Core' Leaders of China's Communist Party

by VOA News

   China's communist party has elevated President Xi Jinping's status to a
   "core" leader, putting him on par with Chinese strongmen such as Mao
   Zedong and Deng Xioaping.

   A lengthy comminque released following a four-day Communist party
   meeting in Beijing called on all members to unite around the party
   leadership with "Comrade Xi Jinping as the core". But it also stressed
   the importance of collective leadership, saying the system "must always
   be followed and should not be violated by any organization or
   individual under any circumstance or for any reason."

   Though mainly symbolic, Xi's anointment as the party's core reflects
   his assertion of himself as one of the country's most powerful leaders
   in decades.

   Since President Xi was appointed his party's leader in 2012, he has
   aggressively worked to centralize political control and consolidate
   power, reining in activists and punishing more than 1 million party
   members for corruption, according to state media.

   Analysts have hinted that Xi may seek a third term after a traditional
   10 years as the country's leader, though he can indefinitely remain
   party leader -- the position from which he gets most of his power.