China: A Leader's Rise, a Widow's Fall

Hu seems to displace Hua, as the Gang of Four trial ends

The case of the missing Chairman seemed all but solved by default last week after a New Year's tea party in Peking's Great Hall of the People. The reception, televised to the Chinese people, was held by the Communist Party's Central Committee and marked by a conspicuous absence: nowhere to be seen, after 36 days out of the public eye, was Party Chairman Hua Guofeng. Instead, the gathering's host was Secretary-General Hu Yaobang, 65, who has been rumored to be the man who would displace the missing Hua. Hu...

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