Archives Declassified: The First Public Disclosure of Deng Xiaoping's Final Moments

On a morning in December 1996, Deng Xiaoping woke up feeling short of breath. According to his habits over many years, he should have walked into the bathroom to wash his face and brush his teeth, then sat by a small square table to start eating breakfast, which included milk and eggs.

The secretary usually came in at this time to place the things he would need in the office - glasses, watch, magnifying glass, as well as a stack of documents and newspapers. He spent most of the rest of the day in the office. He liked looking at maps, flipping through dictionaries, sometimes reading "Records of the Grand Historian" or "Comprehensive Mirror for Aid in Government", but he enjoyed reading "Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio" more. He liked playing bridge, swimming, watching football matches, but his most regular exercise was walking. At 10 o'clock every morning, the nurse would come in to remind him to go out for a walk. But that morning, he felt like he couldn't do anything.

Uncontrollable coughing made it difficult for him to breathe and swallow food, let alone engage in these activities. The doctors around him could not handle the situation any longer, so they had to send him to the General Hospital of the People's Liberation Army (also known as 301 Hospital).

It was only about 10 kilometers from his home to 301 Hospital, but on that day, those were the longest 10 kilometers in the world.

"Never did I expect that he would never return," Zuo Lin said later. His car passed through Beijing's Chang'an Street, known as the "First Street under Heaven", heading west. It was an extraordinary moment, but no one realized it at the time.

There was a light snowfall on New Year's Day 1997, turning the capital city white. However, there was no trace of festive atmosphere at the 301 Hospital. Deng Xiaoping's ward was located on the top floor of a small building at the southern end of the yard. There were always many people standing around his bed, with some doctors and nurses coming and going, but Huang Lin, his personal medical attendant, stayed by his side all the time.

At that time, CCTV was broadcasting a documentary. For a while, Deng Xiaoping's spirit improved somewhat, but he still couldn't make out who the person walking towards him on the TV screen was.

"That person over there, walking towards us," he asked, "who is it?"

Huang Lin smiled: "That's you. Can you see clearly now?"

As the person got closer, he finally recognized himself, moved his lips, and smiled. Huang Lin told him that the name of this TV series was "Deng Xiaoping", newly filmed by CCTV, and it had 12 episodes. He didn't say anything, just watched episode after episode. Knowing that he was hard of hearing and couldn't hear clearly, Huang Lin leaned closer to his ear...