Death penalty commuted for Mao's widow, 1 other

China's Supreme Court Tuesday commuted the death sentence of Mao Tse-tung's widow, Jiang Qing, to life imprisonment, the New China News Agency said. The official news agency said the other member of the so-called ''gang of four'' leftist leaders sentenced to death, former Vice-Premier Zhang Chunqiao, also had his sentence commuted to life imprisonment. The pair had been charged with plotting to overthrow the government and for counterrevolution.

The New York Times reported that execution was not expected for either of the two, if only because it might ''inflame Maoist passions.''