Good God

Xi Jinping Adds ‘Living Buddhist Deity’ to Growing List of Titles

Another promotion for the Chinese president.

It's been quite a few weeks for President Xi’s résumé—first his party proposed scrapping the two-term presidential limit, opening up the prospect of him becoming China’s ruler for life, and now he’s become a living Buddhist deity. At the annual meeting of the Chinese parliament Wednesday, a Chinese Communist Party chief from the remote northwest province of Qinghai—the birthplace of the Dalai Lama—said Tibetans who live there see the president as a god. Wang Guosheng said the area had taken Mao Zedong’s advice about loving the party and its leader, and claimed that “images of the leader” were being handed out to people in poorer parts of the province to keep in their homes. This year’s parliament is expected to give the go-ahead to plans to elevate Xi’s power and scrap the presidential term limit, allowing him to rule indefinitely.