A country of yes men: No one says no to Xi Jinping anymore

Suspense.
Suspense.
Image: Reuters/Jason Lee
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Over the past weekend, Xi Jinping was re-elected as China’s president with zero objections from nearly 3,000 lawmakers. While it’s no surprise that the country’s legislature is largely for rubber-stamping, no president has received a unanimous vote of approval for his appointment in at least 25 years, as Bloomberg notes.

The diminishing dissent in the legislature, the National People’s Congress (NPC), is yet another sign of Xi’s unrivaled power. With Xi now set to rule for as long as he wishes after term limits on the presidency were recently abolished, he further bolstered his position by installing loyal confidants in key government roles during the annual legislative meetings that wrap up this week. These appointments, too, received fewer dissenting votes than in previous administrations.