China’s leaders mourn death of 109-year-old Communist Party elder

BEIJING: Chinese leaders on Tuesday (Mar 10) paid their respects to Song Ping, the longest-lived member of the most powerful decision-making body in the Communist Party, who died last week in Beijing at the age of 109. President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Qiang and other members of the party’s current Politburo Standing Committee attended a ceremony that closed the chapter on a political career that spanned five generations of leaders of the People’s Republic. They stood in silent tribute then bowed three times in front of his remains, which were draped in the red flag of the Communist Party, before…