Former leader dies at 87

Hua Guofeng, a former leader of the Communist Party of China (CPC), "died of illness in Beijing at 12:50 pm yesterday", an official statement said. He was 87. Hua was "an outstanding CPC member, a long-tested and loyal Communist fighter and a proletarian revolutionary who once held important leading posts in the CPC and the government", the statement said. Born in 1921, Hua served as the the country's premier and chairman of the CPC Central Committee.