View source for Li Peng

{{Short description|Premier of China from 1987 to 1998}}
{{other people}}
{{family name hatnote|[[Li (surname 李)|Li]]|lang=Chinese}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix    = 
| name                = Li Peng
| native_name         = {{No bold|李鹏}}
| native_name_lang    = zh-Hans
| image               = Chinese Premier Li Peng 1996.jpg
| imagesize           = 
| caption             = Li in 1996
| order               = 7th
| office              = Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress
| term_start          = 16 March 1998
| term_end            = 15 March 2003
| leader              = [[Jiang Zemin]]<br/>([[Paramount leader]])
| predecessor         = [[Qiao Shi]]
| successor           = [[Wu Bangguo]]
| office1             = [[Premier of China]]
| president1          = [[Yang Shangkun]]<br />[[Jiang Zemin]]
| leader1             = [[Deng Xiaoping]]<br />[[Jiang Zemin]]
| vicepremier1        = {{Collapsible list|title=''Cabinet I'' (1988–93)|1=[[Yao Yilin]]<br />[[Tian Jiyun]]<br />[[Wu Xueqian]]<br />[[Zou Jiahua]]<br />[[Zhu Rongji]]}}{{Collapsible list|title=''Cabinet II'' (1993–98)|1=[[Zhu Rongji]]<br />[[Zou Jiahua]]<br />[[Qian Qichen]]<br />[[Li Lanqing]]<br />[[Wu Bangguo]]<br />[[Jiang Chunyun]]}}
| term_start1         = 25 March 1988
| term_end1           = 17 March 1998<br />[[Acting (law)|Acting]]: 24 November 1987 – 25 March 1988
| predecessor1        = [[Zhao Ziyang]]
| successor1          = [[Zhu Rongji]]
| order2              = [[Vice Premier of China]]
| alongside2          = [[Wan Li]], [[Yao Yilin]], [[Tian Jiyun]]
| premier2            = [[Zhao Ziyang]]
| term_start2         = 6 June 1983
| term_end2           = 24 November 1987
| birth_name          = Li Yuanpeng
| birth_date          = {{Birth date|1928|10|20||df=y}}
| birth_place         = [[Shanghai French Concession]]
| death_date          = {{Death date|2019|7|22|1928|10|20||df=y}} (aged 90)
| death_place         = Beijing, China
| spouse              = {{marriage|[[Zhu Lin (born 1933)|Zhu Lin]]|August 30, 1958}}<ref name="news.sina.cn">{{Cite web|url=https://news.sina.cn/gn/2019-07-23/detail-ihytcitm4108898.d.html|title=李鹏同志逝世 他曾这样记录自己这一生|date=23 July 2019}}</ref>
| children            = 2 (including [[Li Xiaopeng (politician)|Li Xiaopeng]] and [[Li Xiaolin]])
| father              = [[Li Shuoxun]]
| mother              = {{ill|Zhao Juntao|zh|赵君陶}}<ref name="news.sina.cn"/>
| party               = [[Chinese Communist Party]] (joined in 1945)
| alma_mater          = [[Moscow Power Engineering Institute]]
| profession          = Politician<br />[[Hydroelectricity|Hydroelectric]] engineer
| signature           = 
| module              = {{Listen|pos=center|embed=yes|filename=Li Peng speech.ogg|title=Li Peng's voice|type=speech|description=Recorded Oct 31, 1994}}
| module2             = {{Infobox Chinese
|child      = yes
|pic        = Li Peng (Chinese characters).svg
|piccap     = "Li Peng" in Simplified (top) and Traditional (bottom) Chinese characters
|picupright = 0.45
|s          = 李鹏
|t          = 李鵬
|p          = Lǐ Péng
|l          = [[Li (surname 李)]]<br />[[Peng (mythology)|Peng (giant bird in Chinese mythology)]]
|w          = Li<sup>3</sup> P'eng<sup>2</sup>
|mi         = {{IPAc-cmn|l|i|3|-|p|eng|2}}
|poj        = Lí Pîng
|j          = Lei<sup>5</sup> Paang<sup>4</sup>
|order      = st
}}
}}

'''Li Peng''' ({{zh|s=李鹏|p=Lǐ Péng}}; 20 October 1928 – 22 July 2019) was a Chinese politician who served as the [[premier of China]] from 1987 to 1998, and as the [[chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress]], China's top legislative body, from 1998 to 2003. For much of the 1990s Li was ranked second in the [[Chinese Communist Party]] (CCP) hierarchy behind then [[General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party|CCP General Secretary]] [[Jiang Zemin]]. He retained his seat on the [[Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party|CCP Politburo Standing Committee]] until his retirement in 2002.

Li was the son of an early Communist revolutionary, Li Shuoxun, who was executed by the [[Kuomintang]]. After meeting [[Zhou Enlai]] in Sichuan, Li was raised by Zhou and his wife, [[Deng Yingchao]]. Li trained to be an engineer in the [[Soviet Union]] and worked at an important national power company after returning to China. He escaped the political turmoil of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s due to his political connections and his employment in the company. After [[Deng Xiaoping]] became China's leader in the late 1970s, Li took a number of increasingly important and powerful political positions, first becoming Vice Minister and later Minister of Power. In 1983, he became a [[Vice Premier of China|vice premier]]. In 1985, he became the minister of the [[Ministry of Education (China)|State Education Commission]] as well as a member of the [[Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party|Politburo]] and the Party Secretariat. He was elected to the Politburo Standing Committee in 1987.

In 1987, following the appointment of Premier [[Zhao Ziyang]] as the CCP General Secretary, Li became the acting premier, before being fully appointed in 1988. As Premier, Li became the most visible representative of [[Government of China|China's government]] who backed the use of force to quell the [[Tiananmen Square protests of 1989]]. During the demonstrations, Li used his authority as premier to declare [[June 4 martial law|martial law]] and, in cooperation with Deng, who was the [[Chairman of the Central Military Commission (China)|Chairman of the Central Military Commission]], declared military law and the suppression of the 1989 Tiananmen square protestors, ultimately resulting in a massacre. Li advocated a largely conservative approach to [[reform and opening up]], which placed him at odds with General Secretary Zhao Ziyang, who fell out of favour in 1989. After Zhao was removed from office, Li promoted a conservative socialist economic agenda but lost influence to incoming vice premier [[Zhu Rongji]], and was unable to prevent the increasing market liberalization of the Chinese economy.

In 1998, Li was succeeded by Zhu Rongji as premier and became the chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress. During his time in office, he helmed the controversial [[Three Gorges Dam]] project. He and his family managed a large Chinese power monopoly, the [[State Power Corporation of China]], which the Chinese government broke up after his term as premier expired. Li died at the age of 90 in Beijing.

==Childhood==
Li was born as '''Li Yuanpeng''' ({{zh|t=李遠芃|p=Lǐ Yuǎnpéng|labels=no}}) at his family house in [[Shanghai French Concession]], now in 545 Yanan Road, Huangpu District in Shanghai. His family has ancestral roots in [[Chengdu]], Sichuan.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |date=15 January 2002 |title=李鹏简历 |trans-title=Resume of Li Peng |work=[[Xinhua News Agency]] |url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/ziliao/2002-01/15/content_238495.htm |access-date=21 December 2010}}</ref> He was the son of [[Li Shuoxun]], one of the earliest CCP revolutionaries,<ref name=":3">{{Cite news |date=1999 |title=The Man Who Took on the Dissidents: Li Peng (1928–) |work=[[CNN]] |url=http://edition.cnn.com/SPECIALS/1999/china.50/inside.china/profiles/li.peng/ |url-status=dead |access-date=21 August 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100128071842/http://edition.cnn.com/SPECIALS/1999/china.50/inside.china/profiles/li.peng/ |archive-date=28 January 2010}}</ref> who was the political commissar of the Twentieth Division during the [[Nanchang uprising]], and Zhao Juntao, also an early Communist operative.{{Sfn|Barnouin|Yu|2006|p=126}} In 1931, Li's father, then working undercover in [[Hainan]], was captured and executed by the Kuomintang.{{Sfn|Fang|Fang|1986|p=66}} Li was believed to have met Deng Yingchao, wife of senior Communist leader [[Zhou Enlai]], in [[Chengdu]] in 1939, who then took him to [[Chongqing]] to meet Zhou, though  Zhou was in the Communist base of [[Yan'an]], and they did not meet until late 1940.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Li |first=Jing |date=30 June 2014 |title=Li Peng finally denies old rumours he is ex-premier Zhou Enlai's adopted son |work=[[South China Morning Post]] |url=https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1543516/li-pengs-memoir-dismisses-old-rumour-he-was-ex-premier-zhou-enlais |access-date=18 July 2014}}</ref> In 1941, when Li was twelve, Zhou sent Li to [[Yan'an]], where Li studied until 1945.{{Sfn|Barnouin|Yu|2006|p=126}} As a seventeen-year-old, in 1945, Li joined the Chinese Communist Party.{{Sfn|Mackerras|McMillen|Watson|1998|p=136}}

==Early career==
In 1941, Li Peng began studying at the Yan'an Institute of Natural Science (a predecessor of the [[Beijing Institute of Technology]]).{{Sfn|Bartke|1987|p=235}} In July 1946, Li was sent to work in [[Zhangjiakou]]. According to his own recollection, in 1947, he journeyed through Shandong and North Korea, eventually ending up in Harbin where he began managing some work for a lard processing plant. In 1948, Li Peng was sent to study at the [[Moscow Power Engineering Institute]], majoring in [[hydroelectricity|hydroelectric]] engineering. A year later, in 1949, Zhou Enlai became Premier of the newly declared People's Republic of China.{{Sfn|Barnouin|Yu|2006|p=126}} Li graduated in 1954. During his time in the [[Soviet Union]], Li was the head of the Chinese Students Association in the Soviet Union.{{Sfn|Mackerras|McMillen|Watson|1998|p=136}}

When Li returned to China in 1955, the country was firmly under the control of the Communist Party. Li took part in technical, then management work in the power industry, beginning his career in Northeast China. At the outset of the [[Cultural Revolution]], Li was sent to Beijing to head up the municipal power bureau.{{Sfn|Mackerras|McMillen|Watson|1998|p=136}} He played a leading role in the construction of the Tuhe Powerplant in [[Tangshan]] and the Gaojing Powerplant in Beijing.<ref name="dw22july">{{cite news |script-title=zh:六四强硬派李鹏逝世 三大争议亟待盖棺论定 |url=http://news.dwnews.com/china/news/2019-07-23/60142364.html |work=Duowei |date=22 July 2019}}</ref> During his time at Gaojing, he worked three days and three nights supervising the construction of the site. On 4 October 1974, he was struck by a vehicle while riding his bicycle home from work.<ref name="dw22july"/> In 1976, Li was dispatched to affected regions of the [[Tangshan earthquake]] as head of the power restoration efforts.<ref name="dw22july"/>

Li advanced politically after the ascent of [[Deng Xiaoping]], and served as the Vice Minister and later Minister of Power, the [[Chinese Communist Party Committee Secretary|Communist Party secretary]] of the North China Electric Power Administration Bureau between 1979 and 1983, as well as the vice minister of Water Conservancy and Power between 1982 and 1983.<ref name=":0" /> Much of Li's rapid political promotion was due to the support of Party elder [[Chen Yun]].<ref name=":0" />

Li joined the [[Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party|Central Committee]] at the [[12th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party|12th Party National Congress]] in 1982. In 1984, he was put in charge of the newly established State Council [[Leading Small Group]] on the Electronics Industry.{{Sfn|Gewirtz|2022|p=129}} In 1985 he was named minister of the State Education Commission, and was elected to the [[Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party|Politburo]] and the Party Secretariat. In 1987, after the [[13th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party|13th Party National Congress]], Li became a member of the powerful [[Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party|Politburo Standing Committee]].{{Sfn|Gewirtz|2022|p=182}}

== Premiership (1988–1998) ==
{{more citations needed section|date=July 2019}}
In November 1987, after Premier [[Zhao Ziyang]] was promoted to [[General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party|CCP General Secretary]], Li became acting Premier. He was formally elected Premier in March 1988. At the time of his promotion, Li seemed like an unusual choice for Premier because he did not seem to share Deng's enthusiasm for introducing market reforms.<ref name=":3" /> Li was raised to the position of Premier thanks partially to the departure of [[Hu Yaobang]], who was forced to resign as General Secretary after the Party blamed him for a series of student-led protests in 1987.

Throughout the 1980s, political dissent and social problems, including inflation, urban migration, and [[school overcrowding]], became great problems in China. Despite these acute challenges, Li shifted his focus away from the day-to-day concerns of energy, communications, and raw materials allocation, and took a more active role in the ongoing intra-party debate on the pace of market reforms. Politically, Li opposed the modern economic reforms pioneered by Zhao Ziyang throughout Zhao's years of public service. In 1988, he downgraded the role of the System Reform Commission, a State Council body created by Zhao Ziyang.{{Sfn|Gewirtz|2022|p=200}} While students and intellectuals urged greater reforms, some party elders increasingly feared that the instability opened up by any significant reforms would threaten to undermine the authority of the Communist Party, which Li had spent his career attempting to strengthen.

After Zhao became General Secretary, his proposals in May 1988 to expand free enterprise led to popular complaints (which some suggest were politically inspired) about inflation fears. Public fears about the negative effects of market reforms gave conservatives (including Li Peng) the opening to call for greater centralization of economic controls and stricter prohibitions against Western influences, especially opposing further expansion of Zhao's more free enterprise-oriented approach. This precipitated a political debate, which grew more heated through the winter of 1988–1989.

===1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre===

{{Main|1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre}}

The [[1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre]] began with the mass mourning over the death of former General secretary [[Hu Yaobang]], widely perceived to have been purged for his support of political liberalization.{{Sfn|Pan|2008|p=274}} On the eve of Hu's funeral, 100,000 people gathered at Tiananmen Square. Beijing students began the demonstrations to encourage continued economic reform and liberalization, and these demonstrations soon evolved into a mass movement for political reform.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Nathan |first=Andrew J. |author-link=Andrew J. Nathan |date=January 2001 |title=The Tiananmen Papers |work=[[Foreign Affairs]] |url=http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20010101faessay4257-p0/andrew-j-nathan/the-tiananmen-papers.html |access-date=13 November 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081219055135/http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20010101faessay4257-p0/andrew-j-nathan/the-tiananmen-papers.html |archive-date=19 December 2008}}</ref> From Tiananmen Square, the protesters later expanded into the surrounding streets. Non-violent protests also occurred in cities throughout China, including Shanghai and [[Wuhan]]. Rioting occurred in [[Xi'an]] and [[Changsha]].<ref>{{cite news |title=China's Upheaval: Five Weeks of Student Demonstrations |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/05/20/world/china-s-upheaval-five-weeks-of-student-demonstrations.html |access-date=23 July 2019 |work=[[The New York Times]] |agency=Associated Press |date=20 May 1989}}</ref>

The Tiananmen protests were partially protests against the affluence of the children of high-ranking Communist Party officials, and the perception that second-generation officials had received their fortunes through exploiting their parents' influence. Li, whose family has often been at the center of corruption allegations within the Chinese power industry, was vulnerable to these charges.<ref name=":4">{{Cite news |last=Bezlova |first=Antoaneta |date=19 January 2002 |title=The princelings and the protesters |work=[[Asia Times]] |url=http://www.atimes.com/china/DA19Ad02.html |access-date=19 August 2011 |archive-date=22 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110622110442/http://www.atimes.com/china/DA19Ad02.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

An [[People's Daily editorial of April 26|editorial]] published in the ''[[People's Daily]]'' on 26 April and bearing the name of Deng Xiaoping, denounced the demonstrations as "premeditated and organized turmoil with anti-Party and anti-socialist motives". The article had the effect of worsening the demonstrations by angering its leaders, who then made their demands more extreme. Zhao Ziyang later wrote in his autobiography that although Deng had stated many of those sentiments in a private conversation with Li Peng shortly before the editorial was written, Li had the comments disseminated to Party members and published as the editorial without Deng's knowledge or consent.{{Sfn|Zhao|2009|p=10–12}}

Li strictly refused to negotiate with the Tiananmen protesters out of principle, and became one of the officials most objected to by protesters.<ref name=":0" /> One of the protest's key leaders, [[Wu'erkaixi]], during a hunger strike, publicly scolded Li on National Television, saying he was ignoring the needs of the people. Some observers say that Wang's statements insulted Li personally, hardening his resolve to end the protest by violent means.<ref name=":5">{{Cite news |date=4 June 2010 |title=Li Peng, the "butcher of Tiananmen," was "ready to die" to stop the student turmoil |work=[[AsiaNews]] |url=https://www.asianews.it/news-en/Li-Peng,-the-%E2%80%9Cbutcher-of-Tiananmen,%E2%80%9D-was-%E2%80%9Cready-to-die%E2%80%9D-to-stop-the-student-turmoil-18592.html |access-date=21 August 2011}}</ref>{{citation needed|date=July 2019}} Among the other senior members of the central government, Li became the one who most strongly favored violence and known as the "Butcher of Beijing" for his role in the crackdown.<ref name="Hong Kong Free Press">{{cite news |date=23 July 2019 |title='Butcher of Beijing': Ex-Chinese premier Li Peng, who ordered Tiananmen Massacre, dies aged 90 |work=[[Hong Kong Free Press]] |agency=[[Agence France-Presse]] |url=https://www.hongkongfp.com/2019/07/23/breaking-former-chinese-premier-li-peng-dies-aged-91/ |access-date=23 July 2019}}</ref><ref name="Guardian">{{cite news |date=23 July 2019 |title=Li Peng: former Chinese premier known as 'Butcher of Beijing' dies aged 90 |work=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jul/23/former-chinese-premier-li-peng-butcher-of-beijing-dies-aged-90 |access-date=23 July 2019}}</ref> After winning the support of most of his colleagues, apparently including Deng Xiaoping, Li officially declared [[June 4 martial law|martial law]] in Beijing on 20 May 1989 and promised "resolute and decisive measures to put an end to the turmoil".{{Sfn|Gewirtz|2022|p=233}} The protests were [[People's Liberation Army at the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre|crushed by the military]] on 3–4 June. Most estimates of the dead range from several hundred to several thousand people. Li later described the crackdown as a historic victory for communism,<ref name=":3" /> and wrote that he feared the protests would be as potentially damaging to China as the [[Cultural Revolution]] had been.<ref name=":5" /> The martial law was lifted by Li on 10 January 1990.{{Sfn|Gewirtz|2022|p=277}}

===Post-Tiananmen===
[[File:Vladimir Putin with Li Peng-2.jpg|thumb|right|Li Peng with Russian President [[Vladimir Putin]] in 2000]]
Although the Tiananmen crackdown was an "international public relations disaster for China," it ensured that Li would have a long and productive career. He remained powerful even though he had been one of the main targets of protesters, partly because the leadership believed that limiting Li's career would be the same as admitting that they had made mistakes by suppressing the 1989 protests. By keeping Li at the upper levels of the Party, China's leaders communicated to the world that the country remained stable and united.<ref name=":3" /> Because of Li's role in the crackdown, he was viewed as politically repellent in most Western capitals and Western delegations traveling to China often had to debate whether they could be seen meeting with Li.<ref name=":05" />

In the immediate aftermath of the Tiananmen protests, Li took a leading role in a national austerity program, intended to slow economic growth and inflation and re-centralize the economy. Li worked to increase taxes on agriculture and export-industries and increased salaries to less efficient industries owned by the government. Li directed a tight monetary policy, implementing price controls on many commodities, supporting higher interest rates, and cutting off state loans to private and cooperative sectors in attempts to reduce inflation.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Burns |first=John P. |date=24 October 2003 |title="Downsizing" the Chinese State: Government Retrenchment in the 1990s |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0305741003000444 |journal=The China Quarterly |volume=175 |pages=775–802 |doi=10.1017/s0305741003000444 |issn=0305-7410|hdl=10722/179364 |hdl-access=free |url-access=subscription }}</ref> After the fifth plenum of the [[13th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party|13th Central Committee]] in November 1989, Li established a State Council Production Commission to better coordinate the implementation of the plans.{{Sfn|Gewirtz|2022|p=276}}

On 18 April 1990, Li spoke at a celebration for the fifth anniversary of the Shanghai Volkswagen Corporation.<ref name=":Chatwin">{{Cite book |last=Chatwin |first=Jonathan |title=The Southern Tour: Deng Xiaoping and the Fight for China's Future |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Academic]] |year=2024 |isbn=9781350435711}}</ref>{{Rp|page=23}} During his speech, Li stated that "some policies of the economic and technological zones and [[Special economic zones of China|Special Economic Zones]] can be implemented in the Pudong area".<ref name=":Chatwin" />{{Rp|page=23}} Li stated that future investors from Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan were welcomed and that China would provide preferential conditions for cooperation and improve the investment environment.<ref name=":Chatwin" />{{Rp|page=23}} The occasion is often described as [[Pudong]]'s "birthday".<ref name=":Chatwin" />{{Rp|page=23}}

In January 1992, at the same time as Deng Xiaoping's [[Deng Xiaoping's southern tour|southern tour]], Li attended the annual gathering of the [[World Economic Forum]] in [[Davos]], Switzerland. At the summit, Li told the audience, "We must further accelerate the pace of reform and opening", and encouraged them to invest in China.{{Sfn|Gewirtz|2022|p=269}} In 1992, Li attended the [[Earth Summit|United Nations Conference on Environment and Development]] in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.<ref name=":92">{{Cite book |last=Lewis |first=Joanna I. |title=Greening East Asia: The Rise of the Eco-Developmental State |date=2020 |publisher=[[University of Washington Press]] |isbn=978-0-295-74791-0 |editor-last=Esarey |editor-first=Ashley |location=Seattle |chapter=China's Low-Carbon Energy Strategy |jstor=j.ctv19rs1b2 |editor-last2=Haddad |editor-first2=Mary Alice |editor-last3=Lewis |editor-first3=Joanna I. |editor-last4=Harrell |editor-first4=Stevan}}</ref>{{Rp|pages=51–52}} The meeting was the beginning of China's shift to a more active role in international environmental policy.<ref name=":9">{{Cite book |title=Greening East Asia: The Rise of the Eco-Developmental State |date=2020 |publisher=[[University of Washington Press]] |isbn=978-0-295-74791-0 |editor-last=Esarey |editor-first=Ashley |location=Seattle |jstor=j.ctv19rs1b2 |editor-last2=Haddad |editor-first2=Mary Alice |editor-last3=Lewis |editor-first3=Joanna I. |editor-last4=Harrell |editor-first4=Stevan}}</ref>{{Rp|page=8}} At the conference, Li stated that the pursuit of environmental protection should not cause neglect of economic development and that international environmental cooperation should not infringe on national sovereignty.<ref name=":92" />{{Rp|page=52}}

Li suffered a heart attack in 1993 and began to lose influence within the Party to first-ranking vice premier [[Zhu Rongji]], a strong advocate for economic liberalization. In that year, when Li made his annual work report to the Politburo, he was forced to make over seventy changes to make the plans acceptable to Deng.<ref name=":0" /> Perhaps realizing that opposition to the market reforms would be poorly received by Deng and other Party elders, Li publicly supported Deng's economic reforms. Li was reappointed Premier in 1993, despite a large protest vote for Zhu. Li was eventually succeeded by Zhu Rongji after the former's second term expired in 1998.<ref name=":3" />

Li began two [[megaproject]]s when he was the Premier. He initiated the construction of the [[Three Gorges Dam]] on 14 December 1994, and later began preparations for the [[Shenzhou spacecraft|Shenzhou Manned Space Program]]. Both programs were subject to much controversy within China and abroad. The Shenzhou program was especially criticized for its extraordinary cost (tens of billions of dollars). Many economists and humanitarians suggested that those billions in capital might be better invested in helping the Chinese population deal with economic hardships and improvement in China's education, health services, and legal system.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lan |first=Chen |date=2004 |title=Pre-Shenzhou Studies |url=http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/launchpad/1921/story-7.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070311160440/http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/launchpad/1921/story-7.htm |archive-date=11 March 2007 |website=Shenzhou History}}</ref>

In 1996, Li started one of the earliest controls of the Chinese government over the Internet when he signed State Council Order No. 195, issuing the "Interim Regulations on the Management of International Networking of Computer Information Networks". Article 6 of the Regulations states: "Computer information networks that directly connect to the international network must use the international entry and exit channels provided by the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications’ national public telecommunications network. No unit or individual may establish or use other channels to connect to the international network on their own." This regulation was later widely used to punish "climbing over the [[Great Firewall|firewall]]".<ref name="solidot0924">{{cite news |author=Edwards |date=2023-09-24 |title=网友称为境外公司远程工作被没收所有违法所得 |url=https://www.solidot.org/story?sid=76177 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240105030111/https://www.solidot.org/story?sid=76177 |archive-date=2024-01-05 |access-date=2024-01-15 |work=[[Solidot]]}}</ref>

== Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (1998–2003) ==
Li remained premier until 1998, when he was constitutionally limited to two terms. After his second term expired, he became the [[chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress]].<ref name=":6">{{Cite news |date=16 March 1998 |title=China's parliament embarrasses Li Peng |work=[[BBC News]] |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/65923.stm |access-date=8 January 2023}}</ref> Support for Li for the position was low, as he received less than 90% of the vote at the first session of the [[9th National People's Congress]], where he was the only candidate.<ref name=":6" /> He spent much of his time monitoring what he considered his life's work to have been, the [[Three Gorges Dam]]. Li's interest in the Dam reflected his earlier career as a hydraulic engineer, and he spent much of his career in office in presiding over a vast and growing power industry. At this time Li Peng considered himself to be a builder and a modernizer. As the NPCSC chair, Li pursued the CCP's efforts in "forming a socialist system of laws with Chinese characteristics", which he said required "legislation covering all areas of law", "fundamental and primary" laws within each area, and "corresponding administrative and local regulations to complement national legislation".<ref name=":32">{{Cite web |last=Hu |first=Taige |last2=Wei |first2=Changhao |date=18 November 2024 |title=October 2024: Highlights of Wu Bangguo's Tenure as China's Chief Lawmaker |url=https://newsletter.npcobserver.com/p/october-2024-highlights-of-wu-bangguos |access-date=2025-03-23 |website=NPC Observer |language=en}}</ref>

Li spent much of the 1990s expanding and managing an energy monopoly, [[State Power Corporation of China]]. Because the company was staffed by Li's relatives, Li was accused of turning China's energy industry into a "family fiefdom".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Rosenthal |first1=Elisabeth |date=11 March 2003 |title=Li Peng Retires, but His Infamy for Tiananmen Massacre Endures |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/11/world/li-peng-retires-but-his-infamy-for-tiananmen-massacre-endures.html |access-date=5 June 2023 |work=[[The New York Times]] |isbn= |issn=0362-4331 |quote=In recent years, he has also been accused of corruption and nepotism, particularly concerning the involvement of his wife and sons in state-owned power companies.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Chu |first=Henry |date=18 January 2002 |title=Tale of Chinese Scandal Backfires on Magazine |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-jan-18-mn-23437-story.html |access-date=5 June 2023 |work=[[Los Angeles Times]]}}</ref> At its height, Li's power company controlled 72% of all energy-producing assets in China, and was ranked as the sixtieth-largest company in the world by ''[[Fortune (magazine)|Fortune]]'' magazine.  After Li's departure from government, Li's energy monopoly was split into five smaller companies by the Chinese government.<ref>{{cite news |author=Antoaneta Bezlova |date=1 November 2002 |title=China corruption probes signal power plays |url=http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/DK01Ad05.html |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303233107/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/DK01Ad05.html |archive-date=3 March 2016 |accessdate=3 March 2016 |work=[[Asia Times]]}}</ref>

On 22 August 2000, Li was in New York for a UN meeting.<ref name=":05">{{Cite book |last=Lampton |first=David M. |title=Living U.S.-China Relations: From Cold War to Cold War |date=2024 |publisher=[[Rowman & Littlefield]] |isbn=978-1-5381-8725-8 |location=Lanham, MD |pages=187 |author-link=David M. Lampton}}</ref> At the [[Waldorf Astoria New York|Waldorf-Astoria Hotel]], a licensed private investigator served him with a legal summons in connection with human rights litigation involving the Tiananmen square crackdown.<ref name=":05" /> A ''[[The New York Times|New York Times]]'' reporter and photographer accompanied the process server and documented the event.<ref name=":05" /> Li was outraged, having viewed the U.S. government as complicit because the summons had been transmitted through his U.S. security detail.<ref name=":05" />

==Retirement and death==
After retiring in 2003, Li retained some influence in the Politburo Standing Committee. [[Luo Gan]], who presided over law enforcement and national security between 2002 and 2007, was considered Li's protégé.<ref>{{Cite news |date=16 November 2002 |title=Luo Gan: Protege of Li Peng will face explosive issues |work=[[South China Morning Post]] |url=https://www.scmp.com/article/397687/luo-gan-protege-li-peng-will-face-explosive-issues |access-date=5 June 2023}}</ref> After the retirement of Luo Gan during [[17th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party|17th Party Congress]], Li's influence waned considerably. He was subject to frequent speculation over corruption issues that plague him and his family. In addition, perhaps more than any other leader, Li's public image had become inextricably associated with memory of the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown, and as a result he continued to be a widely despised figure among a substantial segment of the Chinese population well into the 21st century.<ref name=":4" /> He was generally unpopular in China, where he had "long been a figure of scorn and suspicion".<ref name=":3" />

In 2010, Li's autobiographical work, ''[[The Critical Moment|The Critical Moment – Li Peng Diaries]]'', was published by New Century Press. ''The Critical Moment'' covered Li's activities during the period of the [[Tiananmen Square protests of 1989|Tiananmen Square protests]], and was published on the protests' twenty-first anniversary.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Bristow |first=Michael |date=4 June 2010 |title=Tiananmen Leader's 'Diary' Revealed |work=[[BBC News]] |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8721953.stm |access-date=21 August 2011}}</ref> ''The Critical Moment'' was characterized by reviewers as largely an attempt to minimize Li's culpability during the most egregious stages of the crackdown; some also say he attempted to shift blame to Deng.<ref name=":5" /> He reappeared at the [[19th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party|19th Party Congress]] on 18 October 2017, marking his last public appearance prior to his death.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.dwnews.com/china/news/2017-10-18/60018045.html |script-title=zh:李鹏亮相十九大 媒体：并非外界所传病危 |work=Duowei News |date=18 October 2017 |access-date=3 February 2020}}</ref>

Li died on 22 July 2019 at the age of 90. He had been receiving medical treatment in a hospital in Beijing at the time of his death.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news|url=http://www.xinhuanet.com/2019-07/23/c_1124789462.htm|script-title=zh:李鹏同志逝世-新华网|work=Xinhua|access-date=23 July 2019|archive-date=23 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190723230541/http://www.xinhuanet.com/2019-07/23/c_1124789462.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last1=Martina |first1=Michael |last2=Munroe |first2=Tony |date=23 July 2019 |title=China's former premier Li Peng dies at 90 |language=en |work=[[Reuters]] |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-lipeng-idUSKCN1UI19Y |access-date=23 July 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last1=Jun |first1=Mai |last2=Ng |first2=Kang-chung |date=23 July 2019 |title=Former Chinese premier Li Peng dies, aged 90 |work=[[South China Morning Post]] |url=https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3019792/former-chinese-premier-li-peng-dies-aged-90 |access-date=23 July 2019}}</ref> His funeral was held on 29 July 2019. Attendees of the funeral included CCP General Secretary [[Xi Jinping]], Premier [[Li Keqiang]], and former General Secretary [[Jiang Zemin]].

==Family==
Li Peng was married to Zhu Lin ({{zh|labels=no|c=朱琳}}), a deputy manager in "a large firm in the south of China".<ref name=":0" /> Li and Zhu had 3 children:<ref>{{Cite news |date=1999 |title=32: Li Peng |work=[[CNN]] |url=http://www-cgi.cnn.com/ASIANOW/asiaweek/features/power50/p5031-35.html |url-status=dead |access-date=10 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140904063455/http://www-cgi.cnn.com/ASIANOW/asiaweek/features/power50/p5031-35.html |archive-date=4 September 2014}}</ref> Li's elder son, [[Li Xiaopeng (politician)|Li Xiaopeng]]; Li's daughter, [[Li Xiaolin]]; and, Li's younger son, Li Xiaoyong. Li Xiaoyong is married to Ye Xiaoyan, the daughter of Communist veteran [[Ye Ting]]'s second son, Ye Zhengming.

Li's family benefited from Li's high position during the 1980s and 1990s.  Two of Li's children, Li Xiaopeng and Li Xiaolin, inherited and ran two of China's electrical monopolies. State-run Chinese media have publicly questioned whether it is in China's long-term interest to preserve the "new class of monopoly state capitalists" that Li's family represents.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Lam |first=Willy Wo-Lap |author-link=Willy Wo-Lap Lam |date=17 August 2007 |title=China's elite economic double standard |work=[[Asia Times]] |url=http://atimes.com/atimes/China_Business/IH17Cb01.html |access-date=18 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013182313/http://atimes.com/atimes/China_Business/IH17Cb01.html |archive-date=13 October 2007}}</ref> Li Xiaopeng entered politics in [[Shanxi]]<ref>{{Cite news |date=13 June 2008 |title=李小鹏就任山西副省长 承诺"当好人民公仆" |trans-title=Li Xiaopeng took office as vice governor of Shanxi and promised to be a "good public servant of the people" |work=[[Xinhua News Agency]] |url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2008-06/13/content_8358850.htm |url-status=dead |access-date=27 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080924060226/http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2008-06/13/content_8358850.htm |archive-date=24 September 2008}}</ref> and became its governor in 2012<ref>{{Cite news |date=19 December 2012 |title=Li Xiaopeng appointed acting governor of Shanxi |work=[[China Daily]] |url=https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2012-12/19/content_16032409.htm |access-date=5 June 2023}}</ref> and then in 2016, he became Minister of Transport. Li Xiaolin served as chief executive of [[China Power International Development]], before being transferred out in 2016 to a minor executive post at a different power company.

== Honours ==
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;"
! colspan="2" width="350px" |Decoration
! width="100px" |Country
! width="100px" |Date
! class="unsortable" |{{Tooltip|Ref.|Reference(s)}}
|-
|[[File:Order_of_the_Republic_(Tunisia)_-_ribbon_bar.gif|70px]]
|[[Order of the Republic (Tunisia)|Order of the Republic]]
|{{flag|Tunisia}}
|21 May 1984
|<ref>{{cite news |date=23 May 1984 |title=布尔吉巴总统姆扎利总理会见李鹏副总理 |page=第6版 |work=人民日报}}</ref>
|-
|[[File:Ordre_de_l'Ouissam_Alaouite_Chevalier_ribbon_(Maroc).svg|70px]]
|[[Order of Ouissam Alaouite]]
|{{flag|Morocco}}
|4 October 1995
|<ref>{{cite news |author1=成元生 |author2=吕志星 |author3=赵章云 |date=5 October 1995 |title=李鹏总理同摩洛哥国王会见 |page=第1版 |publisher=人民日报 |location=拉巴特 |url=}}</ref>
|-
|[[File:PER_Order_of_the_Sun_of_Peru_-_Knight_BAR.png|70px]]
|[[Order of the Sun of Peru]]
|{{flag|Peru}}
|9 October 1995
|<ref>{{cite news |author1=成元生 |author2=管彦忠 |date=11 October 1995 |title=藤森总统向李鹏总理授勋 |page=第6版 |publisher=人民日报 |location=利马 |url=}}</ref>
|-
|[[File:VEN_Order_of_the_Liberator_-_Knight_BAR.png|70px]]
|[[Order of the Liberator]]
|{{flag|Venezuela}}
|13 November 1996
|<ref>{{cite news |author1=于青 |author2=管彦忠 |date=15 November 1996 |title=卡尔德拉总统欢宴李鹏总理 李鹏总理举行答谢招待会 |page=第6版 |publisher=[[人民日报]] |location=加拉加斯}}</ref>
|-
|[[File:Order_of_Merit_(Cameroon).svg|70px]]
|[[Order of Merit (Cameroon)|Order of Merit]]
|{{flag|Cameroon}}
|10 May 1997
|<ref>{{cite news |date=12 May 1997 |title=喀总统向李鹏总理授勋 |page=第6版 |publisher=人民日报 |agency=[[新华社]] |location=雅温得 |url=}}</ref>
|-
|[[File:Nishan-e-Pakistan ribbon bar.svg|70px]]
|[[Nishan-e-Pakistan]]
|{{flag|Pakistan}}
|10 April 1999
|<ref>{{cite web |date=11 April 1999 |title=巴总统授予李鹏"巴基斯坦勋章" |url=http://www.people.com.cn/item/lpcf/newfiles/041102.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303232745/http://www.people.com.cn/item/lpcf/newfiles/041102.html |archive-date=3 March 2016 |accessdate=22 February 2016 |publisher=人民网}}</ref>
|-
|[[File:Order_of_the_Yugoslavian_Great_Star_Rib.png|70px]]
|[[Order of the Yugoslav Star]]
|{{flag|FR Yugoslavia|name=Yugoslavia}}
|12 June 2000
|<ref>{{cite web |date=13 June 2000 |title=李鹏同南联盟总统米洛舍维奇举行会谈 |url=http://www.people.com.cn/GB/channel1/10/20000613/100594.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050309131117/http://www.people.com.cn/GB/channel1/10/20000613/100594.html |archive-date=9 March 2005 |access-date=23 July 2019 |publisher=人民网}}</ref><ref name="peng">{{cite web |date=12 June 2000 |title=Milošević uručio Li Pengu orden velike jugoslovenske zvezde |url=http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2000&mm=06&dd=12&nav_category=1&nav_id=7743 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141213022424/http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2000&mm=06&dd=12&nav_category=1&nav_id=7743 |archive-date=13 December 2014 |accessdate=8 December 2014 |publisher=B92}}</ref>
|-
|[[File:Medal_Pushkin_rib.png|70px]]
|[[Medal of Pushkin]]
|{{flag|Russia}}
|31 October 2007
|<ref>[http://www.kremlin.ru/acts/bank/26385 Указ Президента Российской Федерации от 31 октября 2007 года № 1440 «О награждении медалью Пушкина»]</ref>
|}

== See also ==
* [[Politics of China]]
* [[History of the People's Republic of China (1989–2002)]]

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{reflist}}

=== Bibliography ===
* {{cite book |author=Barnouin |title=Zhou Enlai: A Political Life |last2=Yu |first2=Changgen |publisher=Chinese University of Hong Kong |year=2006 |isbn=962-996-280-2 |location=Hong Kong |first1=Barbara |url=}}
* {{cite book |author=Bartke |title=Who's Who in the People's Republic of China |publisher=K.G. Saur |year=1987 |isbn=978-3-598-10610-1 |location= |first=Wolfgang |url=}}
* {{cite book |author=Fang |title=Zhou Enlai: A Profile |last2=Fang |first2=Lucy Guinong |publisher=Foreign Languages Press |year=1986 |isbn= |location= |first1=Percy Jucheng |url=}}
* {{cite book |author=Mackerras |title=Dictionary of the Politics of the People's Republic of China |last2=McMillen |first2=Donald Hugh |last3=Watson |first3=Donald Andrew |publisher=Routelage |year=1998 |isbn= |location=United Kingdom |first1=Colin |url=}}
* {{cite book |author=Pan |title=Out of Mao's Shadow: The Struggle for the Soul of a New China |publisher=Simon & Schuster |year=2008 |isbn=978-1-4165-3705-2 |first=Philip P. |url=https://archive.org/details/outofmaosshadows00panp}}
* {{cite book |last=Gewirtz |first=Julian |title=Never Turn Back: China and the Forbidden History of the 1980s |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=2022 |isbn=9780674241848|doi=}}
* {{cite book |author=Zhao |title=Prisoner of the State: The Secret Journal of Premier Zhao Ziyang |title-link=Prisoner of the State |publisher=New York: Simon and Schuster |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-4391-4938-6 |author-link=Zhao Ziyang |first=Ziyang |url=}}

==External links==
*[http://www.hrichina.org/content/2744 Li Peng human rights lawsuit] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121019195004/http://hrichina.org/content/2744 |date=19 October 2012 }}
*[http://www.chinavitae.com/biography_display.php?id=409 Li Peng biography @ China Vitae, the web's largest online database of China VIPs] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060828022738/http://chinavitae.com/biography_display.php?id=409 |date=28 August 2006 }}
*[https://digital.lib.hkbu.edu.hk/corpus/ Corpus of Political Speeches ] Free access to political speeches by Li Peng and other Chinese politicians, developed by Hong Kong Baptist University Library

{{s-start}}
{{s-gov}}
{{s-bef|before = [[Liu Lanbo]]}}
{{s-ttl|title = Minister of Electric Power|years = 1981–1982}}
{{s-aft|after = [[Qian Zhengying]] |as=Minister of Water Resources and Power}}
{{s-bef|before = [[He Dongchang]] |as=Minister of Education}}
{{s-ttl|title = [[Minister of Education (China)|Chairman of the State Education Commission]]|years = 1985–1988}}
{{s-aft|after = [[Li Tieying]]}}
{{s-bef|before = [[Zhao Ziyang]]}}
{{s-ttl|title = [[Premier of China]]|years = 1987–1998}}
{{s-aft|after = [[Zhu Rongji]]}}
{{s-par}}
{{s-bef|before = [[Qiao Shi]]}}
{{s-ttl|title = [[Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress|Chairmen of the Standing Committee of the NPC]]|years=1998–2003}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Wu Bangguo]]}}
{{s-end}}
{{SCNPCHeads}}
{{Premiers of the People's Republic of China}}
{{6th State Council of China}}
{{7th State Council of China}}
{{8th State Council of China}}
{{Vice Premiers of the People's Republic of China}}
{{15th Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party}}
{{14th Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party}}
{{13th Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party}}
{{12th Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party}}
{{Ministers of Education of the People's Republic of China}}
{{1989 Tiananmen protests}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Li, Peng}}
[[Category:1928 births]]
[[Category:2019 deaths]]
[[Category:Family of Li Peng|.]]
[[Category:Premiers of the People's Republic of China]]
[[Category:Chinese Communist Party politicians from Shanghai]]
[[Category:Chairmen of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress]]
[[Category:People's Republic of China politicians from Shanghai]]
[[Category:Ministers of education (China)]]
[[Category:20th-century Chinese heads of government]]
[[Category:Members of the 15th Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party]]
[[Category:Members of the 14th Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party]]
[[Category:Members of the 13th Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party]]
[[Category:Members of the 12th Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party]]
[[Category:Moscow Power Engineering Institute alumni]]
[[Category:Burials at Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery]]
[[Category:Zhou Enlai]]
[[Category:Chinese expatriates in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of the Sun of Peru]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Medal of Pushkin]]
[[Category:Chinese diarists]]
[[Category:Foreign recipients of the Nishan-e-Pakistan]]
[[Category:Politicide perpetrators]]
[[Category:Engineers from Shanghai]]
[[Category:Chinese engineers]]