Chinese university students told to avoid private memorial events for former premier Li Keqiang
- Some universities have asked student counsellors and leaders not to arrange mourning activities, fearing they could turn into protests
- Beijing expected to tighten security in coming days ‘as they don’t want any mishaps during this difficult period’, political commentator says
Li – who was premier for a decade until he stepped down in March – died of a heart attack at the age of 68 in the early hours of Friday morning in Shanghai, according to official media.
His sudden death has shocked the nation, with many paying tribute to him online after the news emerged.
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‘People’s Premier’: former Chinese premier Li Keqiang dies of a heart attack at age 68
In downtown Hefei, capital of southeastern Anhui province, people queued to lay flowers at the entrance to a residential compound where Li spent his childhood, according to videos posted on social media.
But some universities have told student counsellors and leaders not to arrange memorial activities, fearing that they could potentially turn into protests.
One student counsellor at a top university in Beijing said they had been told to work with student leaders to ensure that no memorials were held for now.
“It is not that we will not commemorate former premier Li Keqiang. I think we need to wait for the party’s central leadership to announce details of the national mourning, so the university can follow this properly,” said the counsellor, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.
“We don’t want students to organise their own mourning events. They could get overly emotional and cause unnecessary turbulence like what happened 30-plus years ago.”
