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 lak ...

, was a rural cadre and is now a

research Research is "creativity, 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 att ...

er in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

.Pomfret, John (2008)
Is China Dismantling Its 'Socialist' Countryside?
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The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'', 8 October 2005, retrieved 2011-07-23 Li worked in Qipan, where he became secretary of his local commune in Hubei province 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 (; IPA: ; born 23 October 1928) is a retired Chinese politician who served as Premier of the People's Republic of China from 1998 to 2003 and CCP Politburo Standing Committee member from 1992 to 2002 along with the Chinese Communist ...

, 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, 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 th ...

." Li was described by ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' 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
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'', 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