Mao Anqing | Son of Mao Tse-tung, 84

Mao Anqing, 84, the only known surviving son of Mao Tse-tung, the late founder of China's communist government, has died, a government news agency reported yesterday.

Mr. Mao died Friday, the China News Service said without citing a cause of death. He had no role in government, suffered from psychiatric problems, and is believed to have spent much of his adult life in mental hospitals.

Born in 1923, Mr. Mao was the second son of Mao Tse-tung and his first wife, Yang Kaihui, while they were activists. Yang was executed in 1930 by the then-ruling Nationalist government.

In 1936, Mao Anqing and his older brother, Mao Anying, were sent first to Paris and then to Moscow. They returned in 1947 before the communists' 1949 victory in a civil war that overthrew the Nationalists.

Mao Anying was killed fighting in the 1950-53 Korean War. Mao Tse-tung died in 1976. - AP