Symbol of Reform Dies With Li Keqiang

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang speaks from the podium at the opening session of the National Peoples Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, on March 5, 2022. Kevin Frayer/Getty Images

Commentary

The death of former Chinese Premier Li Keqiang won’t produce a tangible effect on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), yet it signifies the demise of one of the last possible reformers.

Mr. Li’s death was unexpected, occurring shortly after the removal of Defense Minister Li Shangfu and mere months after CCP leader Xi Jinping replaced Foreign Minister Qin Gang with Wang Yi.

Speculation arose regarding the potential connections between these developments and whether they might signal instability or a weakening of Mr. Xi’s authority. However, there’s no evidence to suggest that Mr. Li met with foul play.

The common thread linking these three events is that both Li Shangfu and Mr. Qin were succeeded by individuals loyal to Mr. Xi. Li Keqiang no longer held office, yet he embodied an alternative vision for China’s future. He and Mr. Xi had contrasting visions for the nation’s trajectory, and now only Mr. Xi’s vision remains.

Li Keqiang held a doctorate in economics, which made him well-suited for his position as premier from 2013 to 2023. The premier plays a central role in economic policy and management. He oversees economic planning, formulating economic policies, managing economic reforms, and addressing economic challenges.

He understood that it was the private sector that drove economic growth. Consequently, he advocated for market reforms, including support for entrepreneurs, as well as cutting red tape, bureaucracy, and taxes. Recognizing the importance of technological innovation, he also favored the tech sector. Mr. Xi, on the other hand, cracked down on the tech sector while targeting the private sector.

Last year, with the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions still in place, Mr. Li spoke while unmasked at a university. He complimented Mr. Xi for stewarding the country through such a difficult time but then said that the best way to ensure the health of the people was to grow the economy. He wanted the lockdowns lifted and a return of economic activity.

Unfortunately, Mr. Xi wanted the opposite—and got his way. The economy remained in lockdown. During the 10 years that they had worked together, Mr. Xi expanded his own role to include much of the economic decision-making, which should have been the purview of the premier. Mr. Li formulated growth policies for China but had no power to implement them.

In 2013, the media reported on the Xi–Li era, but as Mr. Xi steadily squeezed Li Keqiang out of power, it became “Xi Jinping’s New Era.” Last year, Mr. Xi replaced Li Keqiang with Li Qiang, who wasn’t only loyal to Mr. Xi but was also the man who administered the lockdowns, which Li Keqiang opposed.

Due to Mr. Xi’s progressively tighter control over the economy, Li Keqiang was unable to achieve a monumental accomplishment that would secure his legacy within China.

Then-Chinese Premier Li Keqiang speaks during his visit to the construction site of the bridge connecting the Croatian peninsula of Peljesac with the rest of the coast and Croatia's mainland on April 11, 2019. Elvis Barukcic/AFP via Getty Images

Li Keqiang was quoted in a U.S. diplomatic cable later released by WikiLeaks saying that “GDP figures are ‘man-made’ and therefore unreliable.” This type of criticism probably didn’t endear him to the CCP leadership.

For the Chinese, Mr. Li was seen as a man of the people who worked his way up from the lowest levels of the CCP. Coming from humble beginnings and supporting small entrepreneurs endeared him to much of the population. This, and the fact that he died during a major economic downturn, has driven citizens to connect his death with the current leadership’s inability to fix the economy.

In reality, no one knows if Mr. Li’s reforms would have resulted in a better economy. But, now that he has died, people are seeing him through rose-colored glasses, believing that he could have taken all their problems away. Public mourning, which has broken out nationwide, has been interpreted as a criticism of Mr. Xi. At the end of the day, both were part of the CCP, and both would have subjected the population to controls and restrictions. So perhaps the public mourning should be viewed as an indictment of the entire CCP system rather than praise for Mr. Li.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.