China's Stand-in

I remember reading the news that Li Keqiang had died. It felt abrupt—his name had still been appearing in headlines.

Later, browsing Google outside the firewall, I saw two types of reactions.

• The first was theatrical: people claiming they had flown back from the United States to attend the funeral and express condolences to Li Keqiang’s family. I wondered whether, if the family truly faced trouble, those people would actually help.
• The second reaction startled me the first time I saw it. Some insisted that the relatives at the funeral were stand-ins. Considering China’s history with the Soviet Union and the Comintern, is anything really impossible?