TOKYO -- I vividly remember a scene in the small hours in Beijing on Feb. 20, 1997. Assigned to the capital of China, I was in front of the 301 Hospital, a military hospital located at the southern edge of the city.
A medical ward for top Chinese officials was under heavy guard and being outlined with bluish white lights just after strongman Deng Xiaoping, known as "China's last emperor," died in a room there.
