The CCP's 70 Year Itch?

Larry Diamond has written a really good article over at The Atlantic on the Chinese Communist Party's future as they approach the 70th anniversary of being in power in 2019.  However, much like Mark Twain, reports of the CCP's death are exaggerated.

For starters, while he is still omnipresent in China, the CCP no longer depends on Mao's 'revolutionary charisma'.  In fact, they repudiated a large chunk of it 40 years ago after the disasters of the Cultural Revolution and the rise of Deng Xiaoping's pragmatic and realist perspectives on governance.

Postman Pat was also a fan of black-and-white cats.
(Photo courtesy of Nic Walker on Flikr)

Secondly, the economy is still performing ok.  Whether that can still be maintained is a matter for debate, but for the time being, despite all the known problems about corruption, pollution etc., the Party is to a large extent continuing to deliver the public goods.

State Department photo of Sec. of State John Kerry meeting Pres. Xi Jinping

Predictions of political crisis in China are as old as the People's Republic itself, and personally I do not see one happening during the tenure of Xi Jinping as President.