China’s propaganda mandarins are experimenting with a new policy to manage their message in the age of the internet: reporting the news as it happens. This marks an important shift for the ruling Communist Party, accustomed to deciding what will be reported and when.

One hundred years ago Friday, a crime was committed behind the imposing oxblood-red walls of Beijing's Forbidden City. It was the ultimate crime: the murder of an emperor. But it remained a rumor or had been covered up. Until now. He was just 38 years old at the time of his death. He had been the victim of a palace coup following political differences with his aunt, the Empress Dowager Cixi.