Almost a week after Li Keqiang’s sudden death, China says goodbye to the former prime minister. In recent days there have been public expressions of condolence on the Chinese internet – some of which were censored.
In the morning, the national flag was lowered to half-mast in Tiananmen Square in the heart of the Chinese capital Beijing. According to media reports, all leading representatives of the Communist Party said goodbye to Li Keqiang before his cremation. A public funeral service for deceased prime ministers is generally not customary in China.
Li Keqiang retired as prime minister in March this year after a 10-year term. He died unexpectedly last Friday of a heart attack in Shanghai at the age of 68. In recent days, numerous people have expressed their condolences on Chinese social media. Along with the distant and aloof-seeming state and party leader Xi Jinping, Li was considered particularly close to the people.
Mourning for former ones Prime Ministers
For example, netizens recalled that Li also advocated for the less privileged in the country, addressing in 2020 that many people lived in poverty. In doing so, he spoke contrary to the official state line, which repeatedly emphasizes how many millions of people have already been freed from poverty:
“China is a developing country with a large population. The annual per capita disposable income in China is 30,000 yuan, but there are 600 million people with a monthly income of 1,000 yuan,” said Li. That’s the equivalent of 130 euros. That’s not even enough to rent a room in a medium-sized Chinese city, said the former prime minister
Flowers for Li Keqiang
In his hometown of Hefei in southeast China’s Anhui region, the day after his death, many people laid flowers in front of the house where Li spent his childhood. People also mourned in Shanghai, where Li Keqiang died.
Ma Congcong, an 18-year-old student in Shanghai, said: “I was very sad because after all he was very young. I felt that the country had just lost an excellent leader. My family was also very sad. Mine too Mother and father liked Li Keqiang very much.”
“Too bad it wasn’t you”
Observers also saw the public mourning over possible protests as a challenge for the ruling Communist Party. Chinese online networks censored videos and posts that showed Li’s reformist and private-sector attitudes, which could make state and party leader Xi Jinping look disadvantageous in comparison.
The search term “Kexi bu shi ni” was blocked on the Chinese online network “Weibo”. This is a song that translates as: “It’s a shame it wasn’t you.” The censorship authorities apparently feared that this could refer to state and party leader Xi Jinping. Even after the deaths of other politicians around the world, Internet users had posted this song in recent years.
Number two after Xi
Li Keqiang, an economist with a doctorate from Beijing University, was once considered the leading candidate for the leadership of the Communist Party, but was then increasingly sidelined by Xi Jinping. When Xi became head of state and party, Li remained as prime minister – number two at the top of the Communist Party.