South China Morning Post Monday, November 21,2016 All The basic law Cor e Strel 1o" | of unintended Robert Lawrence Kuhn says those who see China’s designation of Xi Jinping as core leader to be a variation —_ with arbitrary imperial power, and ; . a ae <a 5 ___ insucha“command-obey” system, Mike Rowse says the continuing of strongman rule misunderstand its significance for a people navigating their way through huge challenges _ goes the argument, there is simply a ie _ noneed foracore. political tussles in HK illustrate the Rather, given today’s pa olit- ai. e heine causht in a cv. hen, at a recent o seatetnicrians thecatcant oh cote pain of being caught in a cycle of party plenum, both strengthens cohesion and actions and reactions, and we must President Xi Jin- serves to prevent a personality cult, 3 ping (#27) was not to promote one. Having a core address the root cause of the grievances designated as aa means acknowledging that the “core” of the Communist Party's J party system is not the “emperor Central Committee, some Western a system" —absolute poweris rejected here has been a considerable focus recently on media were quick to condemn the a /_,! ~and that the optimum system, at the Basic Lawand the rule oflaw, and their rise of a new “ strongman’. While ‘ least for the foreseeable future, is a interaction. Perhaps neglected in the process has recognising the significance of Xi as as y ke combination of concentrated cen- been a different but relevant concept: the law of the core was correct, conjuring up i? ) tralism and democratic collective unintended consequences, whereby an action gives visions of an emerging dictator was To leadership. rise to outcomes unforeseen by the instigator. not. nee } Corroborating this functional Hong Kong's tortuous path towards political reform T recalled my meeting with Xi a balance, in the communiqué issued isacase in point. The first reference to the idea of years earlier, when he wasstill party fo following the sixth ple