The 'killer with the pen' of Cultural Revolution served 20 years in prison
Yao Wenyuan, the last surviving member of the Gang of Four who unleashed chaos and purged millions of Chinese during the turbulent decade of the Cultural Revolution from 1966 to 1976, has died at the age of 74.
Xinhua said yesterday in a brief report that Yao died of diabetes on December 23.
The report described him as 'a master criminal of the counter-revolutionary clique' of former military leader Lin Biao and Jiang Qing, the widow of former leader Mao Zedong .
Yao's death came 30 years after the end of the decade-long Cultural Revolution when the four were removed from power after Mao died.
Veteran political scientist Johnny Lau Yui-siu said: 'Yao's death has no significance now, but it serves as a reminder of how certain people in the history of China caused setbacks to the country's development. There should be some rethinking on how China should implement its political reforms in a pragmatic way.'
Yao was the last surviving member of the Gang of Four after Zhang Chunqiao died of cancer in Beijing last April. Jiang reportedly killed herself in her apartment soon after her release on medical parole in 1991. Wang Hongwen died a year later.