HOST: Absolutely, well certainly but breaking precedent by Wednesday not having a young leader coming up behind him and we discussed this yesterday. The transfer of Mr. Xi will remain b F in power for many more years to come, perhaps revive the position of party chairman and stick around indefinitely. ¥" ‘ ae ed RLK: There’s no question about the power and longevity of — | e ry Xi. I would put it a little differently. I’d say that it is not = a - even necessary for him to have the party chairmanship or , a any particular title because of his overarching power by 4 ’ } having his name associated with “Xi Jinping Thought on CHINA'S NEW POWER PLAYERS Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era” - that NO HEIR APPARENT TO CHINESE PRESIDENT XI JINPING CINN| whole phrase is now in the Party Constitution. Moreover, he me -is08 already had the designation of “Core” of the Party. inns RLK: So those two elements - name in Constitution and Core - are totally overarching over any particular title. That said, not having a younger member of the Standing Committee who is an obvious candidate for future ° rel leadership, prevents there being a separate power center ~ @ > that could undermine what Xi wants to do. So the fact that \ — Xi will be there until, potentially, the mid-2030s is very real. “On I think now we should shift our attention to what Xi Jinping ~ 4 / | wants to do. We need to look at the policies he is putting , forth, and see what they mean for China and for the world. ¥ | CHINA'S NEW POWER PLAYERS HOST: And I want to touch on that in a moment, but given PRESIDENT XI'S THOUGHTS NOW COMMUNIST PARTY DOCTRINE CINN) this power and position afforded to him in the constitution $336 700 Ghat no less, I mean where is room for discussion? ancl i 2 HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_032639