Former premier Li Keqiang’s sudden death ‘a total surprise’ to China’s top leaders
- Official obituary signed by party leadership comes 10 hours after short message from Xinhua on Friday morning announces Li died just after midnight
- ‘State media obviously did not prepare full obituary’, while brief initial announcement aimed to quash conspiracy theories, observer says
State news agency Xinhua only managed to run a very brief official message on Friday morning, with a special note saying the official obituary would come later.
Li had “passed away on Friday in Shanghai” following a “sudden heart attack” the previous night, “after all rescue measures failed”, the short announcement at 8.16am said.
“The obituary will be issued later,” it added.
But it was another 10 hours before Beijing released an official obituary. Published by Xinhua around 6.30pm, the document was signed by the ruling Communist Party leadership, who praised Li’s contribution to the party and state.
Chen Daoyin, a political commentator and former professor at Shanghai University of Political Science and Law, said Beijing seemed underprepared in its messaging.
