Li Keqiang, Former Chinese Premier, Dies At The Age Of 68

Li Keqiang, the former premier of China, has died of a heart attack, less than a year after stepping down from his post as the country’s second-highest-ranking leader.

“On October 26, Li had a sudden heart attack and passed away at 00:10 on October 27 [16:10 GMT October 26] after all rescue measures failed,” the state-run Global Times reported on Friday.

The 68-year-old, who retired in March, served two terms alongside Chinese President Xi Jinping, but towards the end of his career, was politically side-lined as Xi amassed ever-greater personal power over China’s government and economy.

In the hours after Li’s death, news reports were indexed notably low in media like People’s Daily and China Daily – both considered mouthpieces of the Chinese Communist Party –  taking second or third place to articles on new infrastructure, foreign investment, and even astronauts.

It was quite a snub for a man once considered in the running for China’s top leadership position before losing out to Xi.

Li’s tenure as premier and head of Xi’s cabinet proved disappointing to supporters at home and abroad who were hoping that a university-educated economist would open China’s economy even further.

Instead, his portfolio was eclipsed by the rise of Xi and a slide towards greater authoritarianism.

“Li hopelessly stood by as China took a sharp turn away from reform and opening. The wind was too strong,” Adam Ni, an independent analyst and editor of the China Neican newsletter, told Al Jazeera.

He said Li’s death, like his premiership, would be “forgettable.”

“The situation we are in now, this political moment, is nothing like the aftermath of the death of Zhou Enlai and Hu Yaobang,” he said, citing two of China’s most famous Communist Party leaders. “Their deaths catalysed instability and protest.”They included protests in 1976 at the end of the Cultural Revolution and again in the spring of 1989 at Tiananmen Square. Li will have no such legacy, Ni said.

JAZEERA