Li Changping (; born 1963)Garnaut, John (2007)

, ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

'', 1 October 2007, retrieved 2011-07-23 and originally from

Dongting Lake Dongting Lake () is a large, shallow lake in northeastern Hunan Province, China. It is a flood basin of the Yangtze River, so its volume depends on the season. The provinces of Hubei and Hunan are named after their location relative to the la ...

, was a rural cadre and is now a

research Research is creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge. It involves the collection, organization, and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness to ...

er in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

.Pomfret, John (2008)
Is China Dismantling Its 'Socialist' Countryside?
, ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'', 8 October 2005, retrieved 2011-07-23 Li worked in Qipan, where he became secretary of his local commune in

Hubei province Hubei is a province in Central China. It has the seventh-largest economy among Chinese provinces, the second-largest within Central China, and the third-largest among inland provinces. Its provincial capital at Wuhan serves as a major politi ...

in 1983. In 1999, he completed a master's degree in Economics and returned to Hubei as a party secretary. He gained fame after writing a letter to then Chinese Premier

Zhu Rongji Zhu Rongji ( zh, s=朱镕基; IPA: ; born 23 October 1928) is a retired Chinese politician who served as the 5th premier of China from 1998 to 2003. He also served as member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP ...

, expressing his concerns about the management of farm workers by local officials. Many workers were paying more tax than permitted to support the lifestyles of these officials. The letter was published in the newspaper

Southern Weekend ''Southern Weekly'' () is a Chinese weekly newspaper based in Guangzhou, and is a sister publication of the newspaper '' Nanfang Daily''. From the 1990s to the early 2010s, the newspaper was renowned for its investigative journalism, liberal ...

, and its readers voted Li as the 'Man of the Year'. He provides a first-hand account of fighting against corruption in his book, "I Told the Premier the Truth." An interview with him is featured in the book "

One China, Many Paths ''One China, Many Paths'', edited by Chaohua Wang. A collection of essays by Chinese thinkers, reflecting the new thinking that developed in the 1990s. Both Chinese liberal and Chinese New Left The Chinese New Left is a term used in the ...

." Li was described by ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' in 2002 as "China's most famous advocate for peasant rights".Gittings, John (2002)
The forgotten 800 million: how rural life is dying in the new China
, ''

'', 19 October 2002, retrieved 2011-07-23

Publications

*''Wo xiang zongli shuo shihua'' (''I Told the Premier the Truth'') (2002), Guangming Chubanshe

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Li, Changping 1963 births Living people Chinese activists Huazhong Agricultural University alumni Zhongnan University of Economics and Law alumni Academic staff of Hebei University People from Jingzhou