Reuters-China prepares to cremate the peoples premier lowers national flag amidst outpouring of grief
November 2, 2023 3 min 504 words
这篇报道描述了中国在为前总理李克强准备火化仪式时，下调了天安门广场的国旗，表现出了社交媒体上涌现的悲痛情感。李克强因他务实、亲民的领导风格而被称为“人民总理”。这一消息引发了中国民众的强烈反应，社交媒体上涌现了大量追悼信息。许多人称他将被永远铭记，一些人分享了他的旧照和名言。 媒体报道中提到，李克强是微博热门话题，悼念他的标签吸引了4.3亿的浏览量。他的遗体被展示在植物和鲜花环绕的中国共产党旗帜下。李克强是一位前经济学家和改革派领袖，他在卸任前担任总理达10年之久，于去年三月退休，不久后因心脏病在上海去世。他被认为曾是中国共产党领导层的候选人，但近年来逐渐被边缘化，分析师和外交官认为这是因为习近平强化了对经济政策的控制。 李克强的逝世引发了广泛的哀悼和反思，人们感叹他的亲民和务实品质，以及他对国家和民众福祉的贡献。这一报道呈现了中国社会对一位曾具有重要政治地位的领袖的深刻情感，以及对他的政治轨迹的反思。这种反应突显了中国政治体制和领导层的变迁，以及人民对领袖的情感投射。
China lowered the national flag at Tiananmen Square in Beijing on Thursday amid an outpour of grief online as the country prepared to cremate former premier Li Keqiang, known as "the people's premier" for his down-to-earth, hands-on leadership.
"In memory of comrade Li Keqiang, flags were flown at half-mast at Tiananmen Square in the capital," state media said.
Messages for the late premier, who died last week, flooded social media platforms as Chinese citizens mourned his death. Many tributes said people would remember Li, while some shared yesteryear photos and videos of Li with his quotes.
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 Li farewell on a Thursday post by China's national broadcaster.
Li was the top trending topic on Weibo. The hashtag for his mourning drew 430 million views.
Undated photos of the memorial service on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, showed the late leader's remains partially covered with a Chinese Communist Party flag, surrounded by flowers and plants.
Li, a former economist and pro-reform leader who served as the premier for 10 years before retiring in March, died of a heart attack in Shanghai last Friday and his remains were transferred to the capital Beijing the same day.
A Beijinger surnamed Gao, 39, said Li will be remembered for his contibutions 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," Gao said.
Once viewed as a Communist Party leadership contender, Li was sidelined in recent years, analysts and diplomats said, as President Xi Jinping tightened his grip on economic policymaking.
"Personally, I still feel a bit unreal (about his death) 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," a 24-year-old Beijing-based lawyer by the surname Wan said.
Shanghai resident Zhang Shijun described 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 is) very humble and low-key," the 34-year-old said.
Some businesses such as international coffee chain Starbucks (SBUX.O) turned their app interface black and white in mourning for Li.