Issue: 1/2019

THE 1999 BOMBING OF THE CHINESE EMBASSY IN BELGRADE

Authors:
Miljan Milkić

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The Chinese Embassy in Belgrade was hit on May 7 at 11:45 with five bombs during the aggression against Yugoslavia in 1999. Three Chinese journalists were killed, twenty‐one Chinese embassy officials were wounded, and the embassy building was seriously damaged. The bombing of the Chinese Embassy had a strong resonance in the world media and has generated various comments. During the first days after the bombing, there was speculation about the reasons for the attack on the Chinese Embassy. There were assumptions that there was a secret intelligence cooperation between China and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, that the Yugoslav government housed some of the people and equipment in the Chinese Embassy, and that a radio station owned by Slobodan Milosevic's radio station was broadcast from the Chinese Embassy. NATO claimed that the Chinese Embassy was bombed because of b‐ ad intelligence. Following the persistent and official insistence that the U.S. pr‐ ovide compensation for the loss of lives, injuries, and property loss, the Chinese and U.S. reached an agreement on compensation for the dead and wounded o‐ n 30 July 1999. Amnesty International and the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia also dealt with the bombing of the Chinese Embassy. Amnesty International concluded that NATO had committed serious crimes against civilians in several cases, including the attack on the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade. The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia concluded that it is not necessary to undertake an investigation concearning the bombing of the Chinese Embassy. Based on various analyses conducted to date, NATO's aggression against Yugoslavia, and especially its attack on the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade, have influenced the change in China's understanding of the Alliance and the further development of political relations. At the same time, after the 1999 aggression, China made a full switch to domestic production of military equipment and weapons. The article presents an analysis of the 1999 bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade. The author points to a timeline of events and analyzes the political moves of the stakeholders. The author pays special attention to the political relations between the People's Republic of China and the United States of America from May to December 1999. The paper was written based on literature, published documents, and reports from relevant institutions and government agencies, as well as reports from news agencies.