Hua Guofeng; briefly was Mao's successor

BEIJING - Hua Guofeng, 87, who briefly ruled China as communist founder Mao Tse-tung's successor but was pushed aside as a prelude to reforms that launched an economic boom, died yesterday, state-run media reported.

State broadcaster CCTV said he died of an unspecified illness.

He took power after Mao's death in September 1976 but saw his powers erode until Deng Xiaoping took control two years later. Mr. Hua was forced out as Communist Party chairman in 1981 and slipped into obscurity.

In contrast to the harsh purges of earlier eras, when fallen leaders were banished to remote villages, he remained part of the inner circle as a member of the party's Central Committee.

When he was forced out as party leader in 1981, one stated reason was that he had continued to espouse the ultraradical ideals of the Cultural Revolution.

Little is known about his final years. Some reports said he resigned from the party for health reasons in 2001, but the government did not confirm that.

Born to a poor family in 1921, he became a guerrilla fighter in Mao's communist movement at 15 when it was battling for survival against Chiang Kai-shek's ruling Nationalists.

After the 1949 revolution, Mr. Hua served in provincial government and party posts until he was named to the Central Committee in 1969. He became party secretary of Hunan, Mao's home province, the following year.

Mr. Hua was named vice premier in 1975 and then premier, succeeding the late Zhou Enlai.

After Mao's death, as rival factions struggled for power, Mr. Hua became a compromise candidate to head the party. Mao was said to have told him before his death, "With you in charge, I'm at ease."

Mr. Hua was described in the official press as "the wise" leader, a step below Mao, the former "great leader."