CHINA/ FOREIGN POLICY/NORTH KOREA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The comment was made behind closed doors, and appeared to be in jest: President Trump told donors on Saturday [3-3-18] that China’s president, Xi Jinping, was now ‘president for life,’ and added: ‘I think it’s great. Maybe we’ll want to give that a shot someday.’ … On Saturday evening, at the annual Gridiron dinner in Washington, Mr. Trump jokingly said of possible talks with the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un: ‘As far as the risk of dealing with a madman is concerned, that’s his problem, not mine.’ … Nonetheless, the remarks appeared to be the first comments made by Mr. Trump about China’s decision to scuttle the two terms for its presidency — part of a remarkable consolidation of power around Mr. Xi — and Chinese analysts took them seriously. … That Mr. Trump left the impression of a positive endorsement of Mr. Xi was ‘unexpected’ and ‘matters for China,’ said Zhang Baohui, a professor of international relations at Lingnan University in Hong Kong. … China’s state-run media has given minimal coverage to the Communist Party leadership’s decision to change the Constitution. The tightening of Mr. Xi’s power is considered so delicate that censors have squashed online commentary of almost any kind. Similarly, Mr. Trump’s remarks were not carried on Chinese television, online or in the state-run newspapers. When CNN, which is restricted in the venues it can broadcast in China, reported Mr. Trump’s comments on Sunday, censors turned television screens blank. … In the United States, political observers lamented Mr. Trump’s latest off-the-cuff remark.”
-Jane Perlez, “‘President for Life’? Trump’s Remarks About Xi Find Fans in China,” The New York Times online, Mar. 4, 2018 9:48pm