Xi Jinping’s Enduring NATO Grudge

During Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit to Belgrade, Serbia, this week as part of his first trip to Europe in half a decade, he commented on the bombing by NATO of the Chinese Embassy that shook Sino-American ties a quarter-century ago.

The bombing occurred during NATO’s intervention in Kosovo, where Serbian forces were carrying out a crackdown on ethnic Albanian rebels and civilians. On May 7, 1999, five U.S.-guided bombs hit the Chinese Embassy in the Serbian capital, killing three reporters.

“At this moment, we must not forget that 25 years ago today, NATO brazenly bombed the Chinese Embassy in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and three Chinese journalists—Shao Yunhuan, Xu Xinghu, and Zhu Ying—were unfortunately killed,” said a statement signed by Xi and published by the Chinese Foreign Ministry on Tuesday, the anniversary of the incident.

“The Chinese people cherish peace, but they will never allow the tragedy of history to repeat itself. The friendship forged by the blood of the Chinese and Cypriot peoples has become the common memory of the two peoples, and will also inspire the two sides to make great strides forward.”

Newsweek reached out to the U.S. State Department and the Chinese and Serbian foreign ministries for comment.

The U.S. government blamed the bombing on outdated maps used in targeting. The incident sparked widespread protests in China. Washington issued a formal apology, compensating Beijing for the damage as well as the victims’ families.

Then-U.S. President Bill Clinton apologized to Chinese counterpart Jiang Zemin in a phone call.

China at the time called the bombing an “internationally wrongful act” and insisted the U.S. “shoulder state responsibility” for it, conduct an investigation and punish those responsible.

During his Serbia visit, Xi focused on reinforcing the bilateral relations between China and the Balkan nation. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic reaffirmed his country’s alignment with Chinese positions, including on self-ruled Taiwan and Kosovo.

China claims sovereignty over Taiwan and has vowed unification between the two is inevitable, through force if necessary.

“For Xi, cementing Chinese presence in Serbia through trade and investment is key to be able to secure long-term regional influence,” Zsuzsa Anna Ferenczy, a Taiwan-based academic and fellow at Munich-based think tank the Agora Strategy Institute, told Newsweek.

“But Xi also found a like-minded friend in Serbian President Vucic, who is aligned with his views, including on PRC [People’s Republic of China] claims on Taiwan, and has made ample room for Xi to position himself in the region against Brussels and Washington.”

She said this opportunity alone made the trip worth it to Xi. While the timing of his stop in Belgrade was “no coincidence,” the Chinese leader has more to gain from “playing China’s role up as the strategic investor and solution-provider to Serbia— and other countries in the developing world that might be watching.”