A Widow Dies In China

By Sidney Urquhart

Beijing sources say that Jiang Qing, 77, widow of Chairman Mao Zedong and ringleader of the infamous Gang of Four, committed suicide late last month. She is believed to have hanged herself at the suburban Beijing villa where she had been under virtual house arrest since her trial and conviction 10 years ago for helping to carry out the Cultural Revolution that bloodied China from 1966 to 1976. Jiang, who was known to have throat cancer, may have wished to cut short her suffering. Her death comes at an awkward time for the Beijing government, concerned just now with the anniversary of the June 1989 massacre in Tiananmen. Although Jiang had nothing to do with that event, a public announcement of her death could conceivably ignite a new wave of disturbances.

With reporting by Linda Williams