I had heard a sad rumor last week regarding Granite Studio fave Chairman Hua Guofeng, and sent a message out through my new favorite procrastination device “Twitter”:
Hearing a rumor that former Chairman (and Granite Studio fave) Hua Guofeng has passed away in a Beijing hospital. Tracking… 10:56 AM August 15, 2008 from web
I couldn’t confirm it and my source said that the CCP was probably sitting on the news to get their political ducks in a row and to not upset the happy-happy clappy-clappy atmosphere of the Olympics.
Well, the Chinese media is declaring that China has already “won” the Games (how somebody ‘wins’ a celebration of sport and culture is a whole other topic…) and with Liu Xiang limping off the Olympic stage, Xinhua probably figured now is as good at time as any.
Via AP:
Hua Guofeng, who briefly ruled China as communist founder Mao Zedong’s successor but was pushed aside by Deng Xiaoping as a prelude to reforms that launched an economic boom, died Wednesday, state-run media reported.
Sad day indeed here at the Studio. I’ll write a more fitting tribute later, until then, see below for previous articles on Hua Guofeng:
“Come Back