Xi Jinping Attends Funeral of Former Premier Amid Rumors of Disharmony Within CCP’s Leadership

China's Premier Li Keqiang bows to delegates after delivering his work report during the opening of the first session of the 14th National People's Congress at The Great Hall of People in Beijing, on March 5, 2023.Lintao Zhang/Getty Images

China’s most high-ranking officials paid their last respects to former Premier Li Keqiang amid swirling rumors of turmoil within the upper echelons of the leadership.

Mr. Li died of a sudden heart attack on Oct. 26, after all rescue measures failed, according to an obituary published by the official news agency Xinhua. The sudden passing of Mr. Li came just seven months after he retired from the premier’s post, the country’s No. 2 position, triggering an outpouring of grief as well as skepticism of the official account of his death.

Mr. Li’s funeral was attended by Chinese leader Xi Jinping and his wife, Peng Liyuan, Xinhua reported. Other powerful members of the Politburo Standing Committee, the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) top decision-making body, also paid tributes at the funeral on Nov. 2.

Former Chinese leader Hu Jintao, who didn’t appear at the funeral, sent a wreath to offer condolences for Mr. Li’s death, the agency said.

Mr. Li was an advocate of private business who promised market-oriented reforms and helped navigate the world’s second-largest economy through challenges such as rising tensions with the United States and the COVID-19 pandemic. But he was left with little authority as Mr. Xi tightened the Party’s grip on the economy and society.

Mr. Li’s passing recalled the death of Hu Yaobang, a liberal reformist who passed away of a heart attack in 1989, two years after being forced to resign from the CCP’s top post. Mr. Hu’s death sparked an explosion of public anger that developed into the country’s largest pro-democracy, student protests.

As analysts expected, there were no such large-scale gatherings to memorize Mr. Li. The authorities have already tightened security measures in an effort to avoid potential demonstrations.

Security guards are seen at an entrance to the Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery in Beijing on Nov. 2, 2023. Pedro Pardo /AFP via Getty Images

Flowers left at a place where former Chinese premier Li Keqiang used to work in Chuzhou, in China's eastern Anhui province, on Oct. 30, 2023 STR/AFP via Getty Images

Hundreds, possibly thousands, of people, gathered Thursday near the Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery in Beijing, where the remains of Mr. Li were cremated.

In front of the funeral home, plainclothes and uniformed police lined the roadway for hundreds of meters (yards), blocking traffic and telling people to move along. Police also moved people away from a subway station near the cemetery, where state funerals are held, and many top leaders are buried.

Political Infighting

Funerals for late CCP leaders are often tightly choreographed events. For outside observers, Ms. Peng’s appearance at the funeral was a surprise.

Ms. Peng didn’t accompany her husband to the funerary events for Jiang Zemin, China’s former top leader, who was given a memorial at the Great Hall of People after a farewell ceremony last December.

After the passing of Li Peng, a former Chinese premier known for his role in ordering the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, Mr. Xi and other Politburo Standing Committee members bid farewell. But that funeral was not attended by Ms. Peng, according to state media reports. Observers noted that Li Peng belonged to the political faction, known in Chinese as “Tai zi dang,” or “princelings.” Sons or daughters of high-rank Communist Party cadres or prominent officials during the era of Mao Zedong are commonly called a princeling, with a notable example being Mr. Xi.

Li Linyi, a Chinese commentator based in New York, speculated that Ms. Peng’s appearance was intended to show the close family relationship between Mr. Xi and the former premier amid rumors of a Xi‒Li struggle.

Analysts have told The Epoch Times the timing of the former premier’s death is not good, noting that Mr. Li’s mourners are likely to link his death to the political struggle within the CCP’s top leadership.

China's deputy leader Xi Jinping (L) and China's Vice-Premier Li Keqiang (R) leave their seats after the closing session of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Nov. 14, 2012. Feng Li/Getty Images

The news of Mr. Li’s passing came amid growing speculation about political infighting within the Party’s ruling elites after a slew of disappearances and replacements of the regime’s senior officials. Less than a year into the norm-breaking third term, Mr. Xi has fired two of his handpicked ministers and two generals in the command overseeing China’s nuclear arsenal, without giving any explanation.

Mr. Li, who was tipped to succeed the Party’s former leader, Mr. Hu, in 2007, belonged to a political faction known as the Communist Youth League. Key members of the faction, including Mr. Li and vice premier Wang Yang, dropped from the larger Central Committee, a 205-member body, even though they’re young enough to be re-appointed during the twice-a-decade Party Congress last October.

By replacing the senior figures from a rival faction with those who are loyal to him, Mr. Xi has further consolidated his power and placed himself, as well as the CCP, in great control of society. Analysts, however, worried the Party’s dominance in decision-making complicated the country’s efforts to save the faltering economy, noting that most senior officials have limited financial experience.

The Party’s No. 2 slot was given to Li Qiang, the party secretary of Shanghai, who lacked Li Keqiang’s national-level experience and later told reporters that his job was to carry out whatever Mr. Xi decided.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.