[1] On 6 June 2012, one year after his release from prison, and a few days after a television interview in which he continued to call for vindication of the Tiananmen Square protests, Li was found hanged in a hospital room.

Following a protest march attended by up to 25,000 people, Pan Democrats and senior establishment figures in Hong Kong publicly commented on the suspicious nature of the death, and said they had escalated the demands of citizens to politicians or "relevant departments" at national level for an independent investigation.

[6] In 2001, Li began a hunger strike as part of a petition to authorities to repay his health care costs, and was given an additional ten-year sentence for "inciting subversion".

[8] Li remained vocal in demanding vindication of the Tiananmen protesters up until his death: in an interview with i-CABLE broadcast four days before, he said "the souls of the martyrs deserve to finally find some peace".

An account that was opened to receive donations from supporters from China and abroad to pay his medical fees was inexplicably blocked; he was also severely impeded from going to Beijing to see a specialist physician.

The Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy conveyed that Li's next of kin were prepared to grant an autopsy subject to the presence of a lawyer from outside Shaoyang.

[18] According to the Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy, an unnamed member of staff at a funeral parlour implied that the government ordered the cremation; another worker told Cable TV that Li's sister and brother-in-law had given signed consent.

The city continued to assert that Li committed suicide, that his body was cremated at his family's request, and that his ashes were buried under the supervision of his sister and brother-in-law.

[20] The media made a connection to the Wukan protests, pointing out the medical examiner assigned to perform Li's autopsy was the same person who pronounced that Xue Jingbo had died of "cardiac failure".

[21] By the day following news of Li's demise, over 2,700 people, including dissident Ai Weiwei, had signed an online petition calling for an independent investigation.

[12] Amnesty International issued a statement urging the Chinese government to "thoroughly investigate the circumstances surrounding Li Wangyang's death and take seriously the claims made by his family and friends that this was not suicide".

[7] At the request of the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions (HKCTU), LabourStart launched a global online campaign demanding that the Chinese government open an investigation.

Its convener, Lee Cheuk-yan argued that Li never regretted support for democracy in the course of his imprisonment, and that his poor health condition did not allow him to hang himself under surveillance of National Security Guards.

[17] Several representatives to the National People's Congress (NPC), including Liberal Party chairman Miriam Lau, Maria Tam, Michael Tien, called on the central government to look into the case.

[23][24] Notably, Ip Kwok-him of the DAB initially said it was "unnecessary" to write to air his concerns,[25] because Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) members should not tell the authorities how to conduct their affairs.

[25] According to organisers of the march on 10 June, in Hong Kong to demand a thorough investigation into Li's death, 25,000 people attended the largest-scale protest ever at the main entrance of the Central Government Liaison Office;[28][29] Police estimated the turnout at 5,400.

[26] In a piece translated and published in the South China Morning Post, Chang Ping wrote that Li's death "exposed the relationship between the June 4 crackdown and the Chinese government's policy to 'maintain stability' ... [which] becomes the priority that overrides all.

"[34] Wang Xiangwei, the newly appointed editor-in-Chief of the South China Morning Post was criticised for his decision to reduce paper's coverage of Li' death on 7 June.

[39] Former Legco president and National People's Congress Standing Committee member Rita Fan noted the doubts of the public in Hong Kong over the death of Li.

[41] Nine days after the death, outgoing Chief Executive Donald Tsang expressed doubts about Li's case, said he understood the views of Hong Kong people.

[42] Pro-democracy Macanese legislators Chan Wai Chi, Au Kam San and Ng Kuok Cheong wrote to PRC Premier Wen Jiabao and other deputies to the Chinese People's National Congress demanding an investigation of Li's mysterious "suicide".