The reformist Li Keqiang was overshadowed by the oppressive Xi Jinping atop CCP leadership. As China falters, grieving for Li begins to look subversive.
By Jianli Yang – Nov 4, 2023
The sudden premature death of China’s former premier Li Keqiang late last month has given the Chinese people — especially the elite, the country’s growing upper-middle class — an opportunity to vent their dissatisfaction with China’s paramount leader, Xi Jinping. It’s a situation reminiscent of the death of enlightened leader Hu Yaobang in 1989, which triggered the largest democratic movement in China since the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) came to power. Li’s death has made the Chinese authorities very nervous.
Li Keqiang was the weakest premier since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, reflecting the sharp deterioration of China’s political environment and political culture over the past decade. Since Xi Jinping came to power in 2012, disruptive constitutional changes have paved the way for his permanent rule, and he has solidified power to a degree unseen after Mao Zedong. Yet he always feels insecure, given various unavoidable political struggles on the authoritarian stage. Added to that are his vigilance about the post–World War II and post–Cold War world order and his concerns that the United States and other Western countries could launch “color revolutions” and overthrow governments… [Continue Reading]
Source: https://www.nationalreview.com/2023/11/a-sudden-death-in-china-spotlights-what-might-have-been/