DINGYUAN, China - As dusk fell on a remote village in eastern China on Friday, a small group gathered around a mud and thatch house to pay tribute to its most famous resident - former premier Li Keqiang, who died on Friday aged 68.
Once in the running to take over the country’s top job before being passed over for President Xi Jinping, Mr Li had a relatively humble upbringing in rural Anhui province.
On Friday, a cluster of bouquets was laid against the walls of his family home in Jiuzi village, Dingyuan county, where he lived throughout many of his school years.
“Li Keqiang was an amiable premier and was loved by people all over the country,” said one man, who stood staring at the display for some time, looking moved.
“When I heard the news, I was shocked, unable to accept the truth. I happened to be here in Dingyuan, his hometown, and came here to mourn our beloved premier,” he told AFP.
It was not clear whether some of the people milling around were present in an official capacity, with the pile of bouquets slowly added to as the evening went on.
A small group of people gathered, with some laying bunches of yellow and white chrysanthemums - a symbol of mourning in China - and bowing before the house.
“He has done a lot of good things for the people and the country. We are very grateful to him,” one man told AFP.
The mourners speaking to AFP didn’t want to give their names for privacy reasons.
Arriving with a large standing floral arrangement, a delivery man told AFP he had been summoned from about an hour away, as there were no closer flower shops.
The rural surroundings were a far cry from the lofty halls of power in Beijing where Mr Li spent a decade as China’s nominal second in command.
Mr Li reportedly still has relatives living in Jiuzi, a small settlement surrounded by fields of hay, where the sides of the roads are lined by beans left out to dry.
The article praised him for his push for the Belt and Road Initiative, the strategy spearheaded by Xi aimed at trade and economic integration across Asia, Europe and Africa. He was also credited for his efforts to seek economic stability.
He dealt with challenges, including “accelerating world changes, the Covid-19 epidemic and the economic downturn”, the obituary said, but worked steadily and sought progress.
The obituary described most of his work during his premiership as done “under the leadership of the party with General Secretary Xi Jinping as the core”. It said Li’s support for Xi continued after the former premier’s retirement in March.
The obituary said that in March, after Li retired, he “firmly supported the leadership of the Central Committee with Xi as the core, cared about the development of the party and the country, as well as the party’s efforts to build a clean government and fight corruption”.
Li died in Shanghai on Friday morning. State broadcaster CCTV reported that he suffered a heart attack one day earlier.
Chinese media outlets are attributing their reports to CCTV or the state news agency Xinhua, which made the announcement shortly after 8am.
00:55
Former Chinese premier Li Keqiang dies of heart attack
Former Chinese premier Li Keqiang dies of heart attack
The Yan’an Elevated Road connecting the Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport with the city centre was blocked from Friday morning, prompting speculation that some top state officials were flying into Shanghai.
A security staff member standing in uniform at the entrance of the Dongjiao State Guest Hotel, a state-owned hotel located in Shanghai’s Pudong New Area, said on Friday afternoon the whole hotel had suspended business until further notice.
Another worker said Li had “passed away in the hotel”, adding that the entrance was “packed with police in the morning”.
At the foreign ministry press conference on Friday afternoon, spokeswoman Mao Ning said “we expressed our condolences”, when asked by reporters for comment on Li’s death. Mao also asked journalists to pay attention to official obituaries and funeral announcements.
As of 9am on Friday, the hashtag about Li’s death had been read nearly 700 million times on social media platform Weibo. On the posts about Li, Weibo’s “like” button turned into a daisy about half an hour later.
Comments are severely restricted under the posts of media outlets, with only a tiny number displayed. But among the reposts, most online commenters are expressing their shock and condolences.
Multiple videos of Li are circulating on social media, including his remarks during a press conference at last year’s National People’s Congress, when he said that China’s opening-up policy would not change “just as the course of the Yangtze and Yellow rivers will not be reversed”.
After becoming premier in 2013, he consistently pushed the private economy, foreign investment and simplified government procedures.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (left) shakes hands with former premier Li Keqiang during the fourth plenary session of the National People’s Congress at the Great Hall in March, which marked Li’s retirement after serving two five-year terms. Photo: Reuters
Under President Xi Jinping, a large amount of decision-making power over economic affairs, previously under the State Council, has been absorbed by party organs under Xi’s push to tighten the Communist Party’s control in all areas.
A long article complaining about China’s business environment posted online in 2015 by Wu Hai, who went on to found Mei KTV, attracted the attention of Li, who invited him to speak at a seminar at Zhongnanhai, the leadership compound.
The outspoken entrepreneur wept on Friday as he recalled the late premier in a phone interview with the South China Morning Post.
“He really did his best and everything he could for this country, for China’s economy, especially for the business environment,” Wu said. “I hope what he did for the country can be continued.”
James Zimmerman, former chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in China, responded to the news shortly after 9.30am, describing it as “sad” and recalled his meetings with the former premier, starting when Li was vice-premier in 2008.
At that time, Li was leading a conference to encourage and promote development and investment in the region after an earthquake, amid fears the disaster would damage business confidence.
“Li was viewed as a pragmatic leader and encouraged economic reform,” Zimmerman said, adding that Li was considered “less ideological” than others in the leadership but his voice was later sidelined.
“His passing is a significant loss to the moderate voices in the party leadership,” he added, in an email to the Post.
Li stepped down in March – despite not reaching the retirement age set for his level – along with Wang Yang, former chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), China’s top political advisory body.
At the time, a Xinhua article on the selection of top cadres said the decision by some senior officials to voluntarily stand aside for younger people showed “broad-mindedness and high moral integrity”, without mentioning anyone by name.
The parliamentary meeting in March – also known as the “two sessions” – was Li’s last public appearance. He delivered his last government work report at the opening ceremony of the National People’s Congress.
According to videos circulating on social media, Li was seen visiting the Mogao Caves, a World Heritage site in the northwestern province of Gansu, at the end of August, but there were no official reports mentioning the tour.
Li is survived by his wife Cheng Hong, a professor of English literature at Beijing’s Capital University of Economics and Business, who has had several collections of essays or translations published. The couple has one daughter, according to official media reports.
Li’s brother, Li Keming, was once a senior official at China Tobacco, which oversees the country’s tobacco industry and is responsible for producing and selling cigarettes. Li Keming also once headed a State Council agency that supervises large state-owned enterprises.
Chinese media outlets are attributing their reports to CCTV or the state news agency Xinhua, which made the announcement shortly after 8am.
00:55
Former Chinese premier Li Keqiang dies of heart attack
Former Chinese premier Li Keqiang dies of heart attack
The Yan’an Elevated Road connecting the Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport with the city centre was blocked from Friday morning, prompting speculation that some top state officials were flying into Shanghai.
At the foreign affairs ministry press conference on Friday afternoon, spokeswoman Mao Ning said “we expressed our condolences”, when asked by reporters for comment on Li’s death. Mao also asked journalists to pay attention to official obituaries and funeral announcements.
As of 9am on Friday, the hashtag about Li’s death had been read nearly 700 million times on social media platform Weibo. On the posts about Li, Weibo’s “like” button turned into a daisy about half an hour later.
Comments are severely restricted under the posts of media outlets, with only a tiny number displayed. But among the reposts, most online commenters are expressing their shock and condolences.
Multiple videos of Li are circulating on social media, including his remarks during a press conference at last year’s National People’s Congress, when he said that China’s opening-up policy would not change “just as the course of the Yangtze and Yellow rivers will not be reversed”.
After becoming premier in 2013, he consistently pushed the private economy, foreign investment and simplified government procedures.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (left) shakes hands with former premier Li Keqiang during the fourth plenary session of the National People’s Congress at the Great Hall in March, which marked Li’s retirement after serving two five-year terms. Photo: Reuters
Under President Xi Jinping, a large amount of decision-making power over economic affairs, previously under the State Council, has been absorbed by party organs under Xi’s push to tighten the Communist Party’s control in all areas.
A long article complaining about China’s business environment posted online in 2015 by Wu Hai, who went on to found Mei KTV, attracted the attention of Li, who invited him to speak at a seminar at Zhongnanhai, the leadership compound.
The outspoken entrepreneur wept on Friday as he recalled the late premier in a phone interview with the South China Morning Post.
“He really did his best and everything he could for this country, for China’s economy, especially for the business environment,” Wu said. “I hope what he did for the country can be continued.”
James Zimmerman, former chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in China, responded to the news shortly after 9.30am, describing it as “sad” and recalled his meetings with the former premier, starting when Li was vice-premier in 2008.
At that time, Li was leading a conference to encourage and promote development and investment in the region after an earthquake, amid fears the disaster would damage business confidence.
“Li was viewed as a pragmatic leader and encouraged economic reform,” Zimmerman said, adding that Li was considered “less ideological” than others in the leadership but his voice was later sidelined.
“His passing is a significant loss to the moderate voices in the party leadership,” he added, in an email to the Post.
Li stepped down in March – despite not reaching the retirement age set for his level – along with Wang Yang, former chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), China’s top political advisory body.
At the time, a Xinhua article on the selection of top cadres said the decision by some senior officials to voluntarily stand aside for younger people showed “broad-mindedness and high moral integrity”, without mentioning anyone by name.
The parliamentary meeting in March – also known as the “two sessions” – was Li’s last public appearance. He delivered his last government work report at the opening ceremony of the National People’s Congress.
According to videos circulating on social media, Li was seen visiting the Mogao Caves, a World Heritage site in the northwestern province of Gansu, at the end of August, but there were no official reports mentioning the tour.
Li is survived by his wife Cheng Hong, a professor of English literature at Beijing’s Capital University of Economics and Business, who has had several collections of essays or translations published. The couple has one daughter, according to official media reports.
Li’s brother, Li Keming, was once a senior official at China Tobacco, which oversees the country’s tobacco industry and is responsible for producing and selling cigarettes. Li Keming also once headed a State Council agency that supervises large state-owned enterprises.
Kim walked for hours to get home, in a state of shock.
"I couldn't sleep for two days. As if obsessed with something, I couldn't turn off the news on TV. I couldn't eat, I couldn't sleep, I only drank water and kept watching the news."
Kim, a writer, struggled with feelings of survivor's guilt, and eventually her therapist suggested that writing about her feelings might allow her to process what had happened.
At first, she shared her writing only in private forums online, where she received overwhelmingly positive feedback, including from others who said it had helped them with their own Itaewon-linked trauma.
After one of her posts went viral, local newspapers asked her to write for them, which she eventually agreed to - but the reaction from the general public was overwhelmingly negative.
"When it was released to the public, I did not receive comfort from the reactions I received. Personally it was good as a way to release my feelings and it was helpful in relieving my depression," she said.
LEWISTON, United States: Hundreds of police in the US state of Maine hunted on Thursday (Oct 26) for a fugitive gunman who killed 18 people at a bowling alley and a bar, as President Joe Biden mourned "yet another senseless and tragic mass shooting".
The rampage in the small northeastern town of Lewiston also left 13 people wounded, three critically, in the deadliest shooting this year in America.
A wide area around Lewiston was locked down during the tense search as authorities erected roadblocks, ordered schools and businesses closed, and told residents to stay indoors.
Governor Janet Mills said the suspect was "considered armed and dangerous, and police advise that Maine people should not approach him under any circumstances".
"This attack strikes at the very heart of who we are and the values we hold dear," Mills told a press conference. "This is a dark day for Maine."
Police named the suspect as 40-year-old Robert Card - seen in surveillance footage pointing a semi-automatic rifle as he walked into the Sparetime Recreation bowling alley.
Police converged on the home of Card's father in nearby Bowdoin early Thursday evening, closing off roads.
One longtime neighbour, Dave Letarte, said news of the shooting "floored me".
"I would have never expected that from him," he told AFP of the younger Card.
Joseph Walker, a manager at the Schemengees Bar & Grille, was among those killed the night before, his father Leroy Walker told NBC News.
Walker said his family was "suffering and dying in a nightmare we don't understand".
"We were up all night. We didn't know where to go, who to turn to," he said.
GAZA HEALTH MINISTRY URGES PEOPLE TO EXAMINE ITS DEATH TOLL
Israeli army radio said the military had overnight staged its biggest incursion into northern Gaza in the current war against Hamas, which Israel has vowed to eliminate.
The military later released video on X showing armoured vehicles crossing the highly fortified barrier from Israel and blowing up buildings "in preparation for the next stages of combat".
"Tanks and infantry struck numerous terrorist cells, infrastructure and anti-tank missile launch posts," it said.
Palestinians in Gaza said Israeli air strikes had pounded the territory again overnight and people living in central Gaza, near the Bureij refugee camp and east of Qarara village, reported intensive tank shelling all night.
Hamas did not comment directly on the Israeli report but said its armed wing had struck an Israeli helicopter east of Bureij. The Israeli military said it was "not aware of this".
Israel has carried out weeks of intense bombardment of the densely populated Strip following the Oct 7 Hamas attack on Israeli communities, which it says killed some 1,400 people.
Gaza's health ministry said on Thursday (Oct 26) that 7,028 Palestinians had been killed in the air strikes, including 2,913 children.
"Behind every announced number, there is a known human being with a name and an identity," ministry spokesman Dr Ashraf al-Qidra said. He urged those who doubted its figures to examine its methodology.
Reuters has not been able to independently verify the death toll on either side.
In Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza, an Israeli air strike hit a house, killing a mother, her three daughters and a baby boy, whose father held his body in hospital.
"Did he kill? Did he wound someone? Did he capture someone? They were innocent children inside their house," he said.
The director of the Nasser hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis, Nahed Abu Taaema, said the bodies of 77 people killed in air strikes had been brought in overnight, most of them women and children, Hamas's Al-Aqsa radio station reported.
Many Palestinians are sheltering in Khan Younis's hospitals, schools, homes and existing refugee camps and on the street after Israel warned them to leave their homes in the north.
Israel did not respond directly to the report but said its forces had struck a Hamas missile launch post in the Khan Younis area that was next to a mosque and kindergarten.
It was not clear if both sides were referring to the same incident.
