Chairman Hua appears to have given resignation

Mao Tse-tung's handpicked successor, Communist Party Chairman Hua Guofeng, has submitted his resignation, unconfirmed reports -- which chinese officials refused to deny -- said Monday. The official refusal to deny the report was the strongest indication that Mr. Hua was on his way out as the head of the party. He has already given up teh premiership in a power struggle with China's strong man, Deng Xiaoping, and the unconfirmed reports said Hua submitted his resignation to the party secretariat because of irreconcilable differences with the ruling pragmatists led by Vice-Chairman Deng.