Former Chinese leader Hua dies at 87

BEIJING – Hua Guofeng, one of the last of the early generation of Communist revolutionaries who was named briefly to succeed Chairman Mao Zedong, died Wednesday, Chinese state media reported. Hua was 87.

Sometimes dismissed as insignificant, Hua was a man caught between two eras who created a bridge over the gap before gracefully exiting the political stage.

In the past, the Communist Party has waited several days to announce the death of a major current or former leader, giving political factions time to fight for position and control the damage.

Rumors of his death have been rife for days in Beijing suggesting the announcement was delayed less for political reasons than to avoid spoiling the leadership’s current Olympics party. No cause of death was given.

Mao picked Hua to succeed him as a compromise candidate, unwilling to name a successor either from the radical Gang of Four, which included Mao’s wife, Jiang Qing, or from the hardline revolutionaries. Mao, on his deathbed, reportedly wrote in a message to Hua: “With you in charge, I am at ease,” although some doubt its authenticity.

But in what some credit as his biggest contribution during a two-year reign that started in September 1976, Hua destroyed the Gang of Four politically, allowing China to ease away from the Cultural Revolution.

“Without him, it would have been much more difficult to get rid of them, so on that count his contribution was huge,” said Huang Nangping, professor at Peking University’s School of Marxism and Lenninism.