Li Peng finally denies old rumours he is ex-premier Zhou Enlai's adopted son
Ex-premier recalls family life in memoir but refutes speculation late premier took him in
Former premier Li Peng has revealed details about his family in his official memoir, but denies he was adopted by Zhou Enlai , one of the People's Republic's founders.
"Some people have said I am Premier Zhou's adopted son. It is not true," Li writes.
Academics and others have speculated that Li's links to Zhou partly explained his rise to power in the Communist Party.
Li's memoir covers events up to 1983 and does not mention the Tiananmen crackdown in 1989. Li was premier and declared martial law in Beijing before troops moved into the square.
In his book, Li, 85, describes his relationships with revolutionary leaders including Mao Zedong , Zhou, and his wife, Deng Yingchao .
Zhou and Deng had no children of their own. Li's father, Li Shuoxun, also one of the earliest Communist Party revolutionaries, was executed by the Kuomintang in 1931 when the younger Li was only three.
"The relationship between Premier Zhou, Mother Deng and me was [no different than] the relationship between old comrades and any martyrs' descendants," Li writes. "We all call them Uncle Zhou and Mother Deng because they care about the sons and daughters of their comrade-in-arms."