Editing Zhou Enlai (section)

===Illness and death===
According to a biography of Zhou by [[Gao Wenqian]], a former researcher at the [[Central Policy Research Office|CPC's Party Documents Research Office]], Zhou was first diagnosed with [[bladder cancer]] in November 1972.<ref>Gao 235</ref> Zhou's medical team reported that with treatment, he had a high chance of recovery; however, medical treatment for the highest-ranking party members had to be approved by Mao. Mao ordered that Zhou and his wife should not be told of the diagnosis, no surgery should be performed, and no further examinations should be given.<ref>Gao, 235–236</ref>

According to [[Ji Chaozhu]], Zhou Enlai's personal interpreter, [[Henry Kissinger]] offered to send cancer specialists from the United States to treat Zhou, but that offer was eventually refused.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ji |first1=Chaozhu |title=The man on Mao's right : from Harvard yard to Tiananmen Square, my life inside China's Foreign Ministry |year=2008 |publisher=Random House |isbn=978-1400065844 |page=Chapter 25 |edition=1st }}</ref> By 1974, Zhou was experiencing significant bleeding in his urine. After pressure by other Chinese leaders who had learned of Zhou's condition, Mao finally ordered a surgical operation to be performed in June 1974, but the bleeding returned a few months later, indicating metastasis of the cancer into other organs. A series of operations over the next year and a half failed to check the progress of the cancer.<ref>Gao 260–262, 275–276, 296–297</ref> Zhou continued to conduct work during his stays in the hospital, with Deng Xiaoping, as the First Deputy Premier, handling most of the important State Council matters. His last major public appearance was at the first meeting of the 4th National People's Congress on 13 January 1975, where he presented the government's work report. He then fell out of the public eye for more medical treatment.<ref>{{Cite news
 |title=Government Work Report to the Fourth National People's Congress (in Chinese)
 |work=People's Daily
 |page=1
 |access-date=17 January 2014
 |date=21 January 1975
 |url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/ziliao/2004-10/15/content_2093466.htm
 |url-status=dead
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091025231247/http://news.xinhuanet.com/ziliao/2004-10/15/content_2093466.htm
 |archive-date=25 October 2009
}}</ref> Zhou Enlai died from cancer at 09:57 on 8 January 1976, aged 77.