China harks back to Belgrade embassy bombing after Nato cites its ‘obligation’ on Ukraine
- EU mission says Chinese people can relate to the suffering because ‘we will never forget who bombed our embassy’, referring to Nato actions in former Yugoslavia
- Nato chief had said China has an obligation as a UN Security Council member to support and uphold international law
The Chinese diplomatic mission in the European Union said on Thursday that Chinese people could fully relate to the suffering of other countries because “we will never forget who bombed our embassy in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia”.
Its statement referred to the intervention in Yugoslavia by Nato in 1999, when five US bombs hit the Chinese embassy in Belgrade. Three Chinese journalists were killed.
Bill Clinton, the US president at that time, apologised for the bombing and said it was an accident, while the Chinese government said it was a “barbarian act”.
The United States later agreed to compensate the victims of the bombing, and their families, and to pay China for the damage to the embassy. Beijing agreed to compensate Washington for damage to US property incurred during the massive anti-US protests in China following the bombing.