Member of China's Gang of Four dies

Zhang Chunqiao, a member of the Gang of Four blamed for instigating China’s violent 1966-76 Cultural Revolution, has died of cancer at age 88, the government announced today.

Zhang died on April 21, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

Zhang was handed a life prison term in 1983, but his sentence was later reduced and he was released on medical parole in 1998, the report said.

There was no explanation for the delay in reporting the death.

The government often can take weeks or months to release word of the passing of politically- sensitive figures.