Not Even in Death Is He Spared? Memorial Article for Li Keqiang Mentions Xi Jinping’s “Core” Six Times

On October 27, 2023, a large screen on a street in Beijing displays the obituary of Li Keqiang. (Wang Zhao/AFP via Getty Images)

[People News] On July 3, the People’s Daily published an article commemorating the 70th birthday of former Chinese Premier Li Keqiang. The article highly praised Li Keqiang. However, the official CCP journal Qiushi (“Seeking Truth”) website mysteriously removed the article shortly after publishing it. In this piece, Xi Jinping’s name appears eight times, and the word “core” appears six times, emphasizing that Li Keqiang always revolved around Xi Jinping as the “core.” Observers believe that amid the factional struggle between pro- and anti-Xi camps, the Xi faction, which controls propaganda, deliberately highlighted Xi Jinping in the article to create a façade of harmony and to dispel recent rumours that Li Keqiang was assassinated.

Li Keqiang suddenly passed away in October 2023 from a heart condition, just seven months after his retirement. His cause of death has long been questioned externally. Recently, as rumours of Xi Jinping’s loss of power intensified, rumours of Li Keqiang’s assassination also surfaced. At this sensitive moment, People’s Daily’s long commemorative article drew significant attention.

The article titled “Striving for the Party and People’s Cause Throughout His Life” was published on page 6 of the People’s Daily, authored by the CCP Central Party History and Literature Research Institute.

An editor’s note stated the article was published in accordance with “the Party Central Committee’s regulations on commemorative activities for deceased party and state leaders’ birthdays.”

This memorial article outlines Li Keqiang’s life and career, divided into five major sections. It mentions that Li Keqiang “vigorously promoted the work of the Communist Youth League to serve the overall party and national agenda,” “strongly advanced the rise of Central China and the revitalization of the old industrial base in Northeast China,” “actively explored and promoted scientific development,” and “implemented the new development philosophy, focusing on promoting high-quality development.” It also praises him for “always maintaining the political integrity and noble moral character of a Communist Party member.”

Within the text, Xi Jinping was mentioned eight times and the phrase “Xi Jinping as the core” appeared six times.

In 2012, at the 18th Party Congress when Li Keqiang became Premier, the article said it was “under the leadership of Xi Jinping... as the core.”

In 2018, when Li was reappointed as Premier, the article repeated the same phrase “under the leadership of Xi Jinping... as the core.”

During the COVID-19 pandemic, when Li headed the pandemic response leadership team, it again stated “under the leadership of Xi Jinping... as the core.”

After Li stepped down as Premier in March 2023, the article noted that Li “resolutely supported and upheld the Party Central Committee led by Comrade Xi Jinping as the core.”

The article also highlighted that Li Keqiang earnestly studied Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory, the “Three Represents,” the Scientific Outlook on Development, and “Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era,” and “firmly safeguarded Xi Jinping’s core status in the Party Central Committee.”

In its concluding paragraph, the article again stressed the need to “closely unite around the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core” and to “implement Xi Jinping’s thought,” among other things.

Since Li Keqiang’s death, besides doubts about the cause, many reports have labelled him “the weakest Premier.”

Li, a Peking University-trained economist, emphasized streamlining administration and delegating power. His “Keqiang Economics” essentially advocated economic reform, transforming government functions, and freeing the market. However, from 2012 to 2017, during Xi Jinping’s first term, 24 “leading small groups” were established covering nearly every party, government, military, and ideological field. These moves effectively marginalized Li’s role as Premier, including in economic areas, consolidating power in Xi’s hands.

Following Li’s death, commentators noted he was a moderate reformist with some authority inside the CCP, and his passing weakened a faction that checked Xi’s power, making Xi less constrained by internal dissent.

In the memorial article, Xi Jinping’s name appears eight times and it emphasizes six times that Li always revolved around the “Xi core.” Observers see this as an attempt by the Xi faction to manufacture a harmonious illusion of “Xi and Li ruling together” and “Li following Xi.”

In reality, the sharp differences and conflicts between Xi and Li’s governing philosophies had long intensified. Since early 2013, Xi reorganized or created over ten groups, personally heading all of them, even the Central Financial and Economic Affairs Commission, previously led by Premier Wen Jiabao and Zhu Rongji in their terms.

During the June 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, Li praised the “stall economy” in Shandong as a job creator and a symbol of everyday life and vitality in China, sparking public debate. However, Beijing Daily soon dismissed it as unsuitable for Beijing.

At the 2022 National People’s Congress closing press conference, Li stated that 600 million Chinese people had monthly incomes of only about 1,000 yuan, revealing the true state of China’s economy and directly contradicting Xi Jinping’s claims of “comprehensive poverty eradication.”

Two days before stepping down as Premier, Li joked with State Council staff, saying, “People act, heaven watches, the heavens have eyes!” This phrase was widely interpreted as a veiled reference to Xi Jinping.

In the lengthy article commemorating Li Keqiang’s 70th birthday, Xi Jinping still looms large, suppressing him even in death, forcing Li to remain revolving around the “Xi core.” It seems Li Keqiang cannot rest peacefully even in his grave.

(People News exclusive)