BEIJING - China lowered the national flag at Tiananmen Square in Beijing on Thursday amid an outpouring of grief online as the country cremated former premier Li Keqiang, known as “the people’s premier” for his down-to-earth, hands-on leadership.
Mr Li, a former economist and pro-reform leader who served as premier for 10 years before retiring in March, died of a heart attack in Shanghai last Friday. He was 68.
At Mr Li’s funeral at a Beijing cemetery where high-ranking officials and national heroes are laid to rest, President Xi Jinping and his wife, along with the six other members of the Communist Party’s Politburo Standing Committee – the highest rung of political power in China – and Vice-President Han Zheng, paid their final respects.
The group stood in silence and took three bows, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
Former president Hu Jintao sent a wreath to express his condolences over Mr Li’s passing, according to Xinhua.
Messages for the late premier flooded social media platforms as Chinese citizens mourned his death.
On popular social media platform Weibo, which replaced its “like” button with a chrysanthemum flower symbolising mourning on related posts, tens of thousands of people left comments bidding Mr Li farewell on a post put up on Thursday by China’s national broadcaster.
Mr Li was the top trending topic on Weibo. The hashtag for his mourning drew 430 million views.
A Beijing resident surnamed Gao said Mr Li will be remembered for his contributions to the country.
“It can be said that he has made a great contribution to people’s lives, to the improvement of living standards. For the past pandemic, the premier always rushed to the front line,” said the 39-year-old.
Once viewed as a Communist Party leadership contender, Mr Li was sidelined in recent years, analysts and diplomats said, as Mr Xi tightened his grip on economic policymaking.
Shanghai resident Zhang Shijun described Mr Li as down to earth.
“It is also obvious that (he has done a lot for) the welfare of the people’s livelihood. (He did) a lot for our people. (He was) very humble and low-key,” the 34-year-old said.
Some businesses such as international coffee chain Starbucks turned their app interface black and white in mourning for Mr Li.
Photographs of Mr Li were shared on Weibo by Xinhua, including those of him with Mr Xi, Mr Hu and former leader Jiang Zemin.
There were also photographs of Mr Li interacting with ordinary Chinese people in the 2000s, as well as one of him clambering over rubble in a disaster-stricken zone after a major earthquake in Sichuan in south-west China.
A 24-year-old Beijing-based lawyer surnamed Wan said: “It still feels a bit unreal, because I feel like he’s a good premier, and suddenly he’s gone. And then I also feel sad for him because he was not yet old.” REUTERS
