Why Chinese mourn Li Keqiang, their former prime minister
Missing the Communist Party that sought legitimacy through technocratic performance
The umbrellas gave them away. Even from a distance, these were unmistakably townsfolk, shielding themselves with parasols from an autumn sun that no Chinese farmer would fear. On and on they trudged: a long column of outsiders, following a country lane between rice paddies and fishponds towards the village of Jiuzi, ancestral home of Li Keqiang, China’s prime minister until his retirement earlier this year.
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This article appeared in the China section of the print edition under the headline “Why Chinese mourn Li Keqiang”
From the November 4th 2023 edition
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