China's Citizens Silently Criticize Xi Jinping by Mourning Late Premier

Since the death of China's former No. 2, Li Keqiang, the authorities have sought to control the outpouring of grief, which China-watchers believe has less to do with Li himself than with expressing discontent at President Xi Jinping's leadership in a nation where direct protests are illegal.

Li, 68, died of a heart attack on Friday morning while vacationing in Shanghai, according to state officials. As premier, he oversaw the bureaucracy from 2013 until he stepped down in March 2023, and although he was once billed as a contender for the presidency, Li saw his influence dwindle as Xi consolidated power.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) carefully manages how officials' deaths are observed, from official obituaries to funeral arrangements. The deaths of China's popular first premier, Zhou Enlai, in 1976 sparked mass displays of mourning and clashes with police. The death of reformist Hu Yaobang 13 years later was co-opted by student protesters in Beijing, culminating in the infamous "Tiananmen Square massacre."

Over the weekend, video surfaced on social media showing locals flocking to Li's childhood home in Hefei, Anhui Province, to pay their respects. Grievers bearing white and yellow chrysanthemums, which in China symbolize mourning, were seen queueing for several blocks along the city's Hongxing Road.

The government made its presence known, dispatching blue-vested "urban management" officials to keep a watchful eye on the citizens gathering there. Journalist Wang Zhi'an posted to X (formerly Twitter) the management officials' purported instructions. Their directions included telling flower vendors to vacate the area, but to refrain from "excessive behavior toward the masses," presumably to avoid the risk of angering the crowd and causing an incident.

Some netizens were quick to use Li's death as chance to express dissent. In an apparent swipe at Xi, the Mandopop song "Too Bad It Wasn't You" by singer Fish Leong briefly circulated on China's heavily censored social media before it was scrubbed.

One social media user uploaded a CCP Political Bureau memo allegedly leaked by a source at Hainan University. The notice expressly forbade students from organizing any activities, in person or online, to commemorate Li, including marches or flower-laying. Those who "must express a deep feeling" could share Li's party obituary accompanied by—at most—the statement "in memory of the former premier," the note said.

Though Li wasn't known for effecting much change while under Xi's shadow, he is widely remembered as a moderate more focused on economic growth than ideology. Amid slowing GDP growth, a property market crisis, and high youth unemployment, some say the premier is a reminder of lost optimism.

"The Li Keqiang being mourned is no longer Li Keqiang" but a symbol, Chinese author and social commentator Murong Xuecun wrote on X.

Li was seen as the only one left capable of reining in Xi Jinping's excesses—"the last brake on this crazy train. His silence and mediocrity have become advantages," and he appears to have born the burden of "humiliation" for the country's sake, Murong said.

Yaqiu Wang, Freedom House's research director for China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, said: "The mass mourning of Li Keqiang is the mourning of a China that could have been. It is not only to show sympathy for a leader who had tried but failed to make China better, but also to express discontent with Xi and a sense of despair about China's future."

Li's remains were transferred from Shanghai to Beijing, where they will be cremated on November 2, according to a report on Chinese state media. Officials from outside Beijing and foreign dignitaries won't be permitted to attend the funeral, and there will be no memorial ceremony.