BEIJING - For some Chinese historians, the Mao Zedong era ended with his death on Sept 9, 1976 and the arrest of his widow Jiang Qing and other members of her Gang of Four a month later. The four were eventually jailed for counter-revolutionary crimes.
But there was one holdover who still reigned supreme for the most part of the next five years. Hua Guofeng, Mao's handpicked heir, was not kicked upstairs until the sixth plenary session of the 11th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in late June 1981.
Already a subscriber? Log in
Read the full story and more at $9.90/month
Get exclusive reports and insights with more than 500 subscriber-only articles every month
ST One Digital
$9.90/month
No contract
ST app access on 1 mobile device
Unlock these benefits
All subscriber-only content on ST app and straitstimes.com
Easy access any time via ST app on 1 mobile device
E-paper with 2-week archive so you won't miss out on content that matters to you
