Editor's note

When Xi Jinping moved to lift term limits on his presidential office last week, many of his people spotted an unflattering precedent: Yuan Shikai, the first president of the Republic of China, who tried to make himself emperor in 1915 and was forced to back down. The Chinese authorities aren’t keen on the comparison, and have duly banned it from social media. Isabella Jackson explains what Xi has in common with his over-ambitious predecessor.

Rex Tillerson is soon to touch down in Africa for the first time as Donald Trump’s secretary of state. John Stremlau argues that whatever hopes his hosts might have, they’ll probably be disappointed. A look at Tillerson’s itinerary indicates that counterterrorism is top of the agenda – and possibly the only thing on his mind.

Andrew Naughtie

International Editor

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Yuan Shikai in 1915. Wikimedia Commons

Why China won't let people compare Xi Jinping with an imperial predecessor

Isabella Jackson, Trinity College Dublin

There's a very unflattering historical parallel for Xi Jinping's move to lift term limits. The Chinese Communist Party is having none of it.

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