Li Keqiang dies at 68.
Former Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang passed away at the age of 68.
The official Xinhua News Agency and China Central Television reported that Li Keqiang suffered a heart attack in Shanghai on the evening of Thursday (October 26). After all-out rescue efforts failed, he died at 00:10 Beijing time on Friday (27th) (16:16 GMT on the 26th). 10) Pass away.
According to reports, he was resting in Shanghai before his death.
During China's Two Sessions in March this year, Li Keqiang delivered his last "Government Work Report" during his tenure, and his "farewell speech" lasted only one hour. He has since been succeeded as prime minister by Li Qiang, who is considered a close confidant of Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Constrained Moderate Reformers
Li Keqiang is regarded as a pragmatic economic liberal. When he took office, the outside world expected him to reform China's economic structure. However, as Xi Jinping continued to consolidate power, he was marginalized in the later stages of his career as prime minister, and his power was eclipsed. He was even called the "weakest prime minister."
Before leaving office in March, he said in a farewell speech to the staff of the General Office of the State Council that "people are doing the work, and the sky is watching, and the sky has eyes." The video once sparked widespread discussion about whether he meant anything.
Zhuang Jiaying, associate professor of political science at the National University of Singapore and researcher at the Carnegie China Project, told the BBC Chinese analysis that Li Keqiang was an authoritative moderate reformist voice within the CCP. His death has deprived reformers of a more representative figure.
"This means that the force within the CCP that restrains power has been weakened, and Xi Jinping, the core leader, does not need to worry about other voices within the party."
Zhuang Jiaying added that in the past, the death of a Chinese prime minister would trigger some collective incidents. How people commemorate him this time is worthy of outside observation.
Xia Ming, a professor of political science at the City University of New York in the United States, believes that today’s Chinese youth lack the idealistic sentiments of the 1980s, so there will not be large-scale activities like the 1989 commemoration of former General Secretary of the Communist Party of China Hu Yaobang. “There may be some sporadic events.” commemoration, but I do not believe that the democratic trend of 1989 will be repeated."
Li Keqiang's death seemed quite sudden. Many people on the Chinese Internet said they "can't believe it" and even triggered various speculations and interpretations. Less than two hours after the news was announced, Weibo has begun filtering relevant comments. Currently, searching for "Li Keqiang" only shows reports from official media.
Liu Ruishuo, a Hong Kong current affairs commentator who is familiar with China's current affairs, told BBC Chinese that even if the CCP leaders step down, the medical care conditions will be quite superior and cannot be compared with ordinary people. "So the news is of course very sudden, but it can only be based on the existing conditions." We are following up on the news and cannot make any judgment.”
Last year at the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Li Keqiang, who was still under the age of "seven up and eight down" at the time, was unable to enter the 20th Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee. He and Wang Yang, who also came from the Communist Youth League system, withdrew from the Standing Committee, shocking the outside world. Xinhua News Agency later issued a statement saying that some party and state leaders "voluntarily offered to stand down."
According to live footage from the closing venue of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, former General Secretary of the Communist Party of China Hu Jintao, who represented the "Youth League faction", was suddenly helped out of the meeting by two staff members. When leaving the meeting, he greeted Xi Jinping and patted Li Keqiang on the left shoulder. .
Ph.D. in Economics fluent in English
Li Keqiang was born in an ordinary family in Anhui in July 1955. He was the son of a local official. When he was a teenager, he witnessed the turmoil of the Cultural Revolution. During the "Going to the Mountains and Going to the Countryside" movement, he was an "educated youth going to the countryside" in Fengyang, Anhui Province. I worked in an agricultural commune in the county for several years.
When the college entrance examination was resumed after the Cultural Revolution in 1977, Li Keqiang was among the first batch of students admitted to the Law Department of Peking University, and was awarded a bachelor's degree in law and a doctorate in economics.
He is fluent in English and has assisted in the translation of a number of important legal works from English into Chinese, including Lord Denning's Due Process of the Law. While studying for a doctorate in economics, his paper on China's economic structure won the Sun Yefang Economics Prize, the highest award in the economic world.
Li Keqiang joined the Communist Party of China in 1976. He spent the first few years of his political career participating in the Communist Youth League and was a subordinate of Hu Jintao, who later became China's president. The latter was elected as secretary of the Central Secretariat of the Communist Youth League in 1983. Ten years later, Li became the first secretary of the Communist Youth League Central Secretariat, further consolidating his background in the Youth League.
During the Tiananmen student movement in Beijing in 1989, Li Keqiang, as secretary of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League of China and vice chairman of the All-China Youth Federation, urged protesting students to return to campus.
In 1998, the 42-year-old Li Keqiang became the acting governor of Henan Province, becoming the youngest governor in China and the first governor with a doctorate. He corrected the situation a year later and was promoted to secretary of the provincial party committee in 2002. During his six years in Henan, Li Keqiang brought significant growth to the local economy, but his achievements were also overshadowed by the Henan Blood Selling Village and AIDS Village Incidents .
In 2004, Li Keqiang became Liaoning Provincial Party Committee Secretary and led the revitalization of the region's old industrial base and the establishment of a coastal economic belt to promote trade with neighboring countries.
At the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2007 , Li Keqiang was promoted to the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee for the first time. In 2008, Li Keqiang served as Vice Premier of the State Council, in charge of economy, food safety, medical care, etc., and became a popular candidate to succeed Wen Jiabao. In 2013 , Li Keqiang officially succeeded Wen Jiabao as prime minister.
Although Li Keqiang was later eclipsed from power, he became a popular leader based on his pragmatism on economic policy.
After he delivered his last "Government Work Report" in March this year, the audience burst into applause for about 20 seconds, which was the longest applause in the entire report. It did not stop until he returned to his seat and sat down.