The former premier warned of the dangers of unchecked power.
Li Keqiang, China’s former premier who unexpectedly passed away this week at the age of 68, first entered elite politics at the young age of 28 in late 1983, when he was elected as an alternate secretary of the Communist Youth League. Engaging in national politics in an era of institutionalization, Li benefited from new rules introduced to foster regulated leadership turnovers to rise up the Chinese Communist Party ranks. To the last, he played by those rules that had made his career.
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Bob Fu's relationship with China has gone through phases. First, he thought money would solve his problems there; then he joined protesters at Tiananmen Square, thinking the politics could change. In the end, he determined, only God could save China, and he's been fighting for religious freedom in China ever since he resettled in Texas. With his nonprofit, ChinaAid, prospering like never before, he says the U.S. is finally catching on.
A podcast about how the two nations, once friends, are now foes.
Hear why things are so complicated now. Host Jane Perlez, former New York Times Beijing bureau chief, talks with diplomats, spies, cultural superstars like Yo Yo Ma, and more to understand why the dangers are so high, and why relations went awry.