To Our Readers: Mar. 3, 1997

TIME's China watchers had been planning a special report on the legacy of Deng Xiaoping for months, but it wasn't until 10 p.m. Wednesday--early morning in the U.S.--that Beijing bureau chief Jaime FlorCruz got a tip that China's ailing leader might be dead. As FlorCruz raced to the TIME bureau, driving past Tiananmen Square and the residences of the top Communist Party officials, he could tell something was amiss; police at each intersection were waving motorists to the side so that black cars with flashing red lights could enter Zhongnanhai, the party headquarters. Within hours, Deng's death had been confirmed, and...

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