NYT: Xi Jinping visits Serbia on anniversary of Chinese embassy bombing
During his visit to Serbia, the Chinese leader celebrated the 25th anniversary of the NATO missile strike on the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, writes NYT. Xi Jinping and Alexander Vucic declared an "iron friendship" between the countries and expressed common concern about US policy.
During his visit to the leaders of friendly countries, the Chinese leader marks the 25th anniversary of the undirected bombing of the United States, which destroyed the Chinese embassy in Belgrade.
On Wednesday, during Chinese Leader Xi Jinping's visit to Belgard, China and Serbia declared their "iron friendship" and stressed the close political and economic ties between the two countries, which share wariness towards the United States.
Xi arrived in Serbia on Tuesday evening. The visit was timed to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the erroneous US Air Force missile strike that destroyed the Chinese embassy in the Serbian capital Belgrade during the 1999 Kosovo War. Three Chinese journalists were killed in the bombing.
On Wednesday morning, Mr. Xi, accompanied by President Aleksandar Vucic, briefly appeared in front of a cheering crowd gathered in front of the Palace of Serbia, the former headquarters of the now—defunct Government of Yugoslavia, which currently houses Serbian government offices.
"The iron friendship between China and Serbia has withstood the test of international storms and disasters," Mr. Xi told President Vucic during the meeting. "It has deep historical roots, a strong political foundation, extensive common interests and a solid foundation in the form of public support."
In contrast to Xi's last visit to Eastern and Central Europe in 2016, when he was greeted with noisy protests in the Czech Republic, he received a consistently friendly welcome in Belgrade. It was reported that the authorities detained possible protesters and involved civil servants to support the visit.
Belgrade resident Sara Markovic told independent broadcaster N1 that her father, a follower of the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement in China, and several other followers of what Beijing calls the "cult of evil," were detained shortly before Mr. Xi's visit. Attempts to contact the Serbian police to confirm the information were unsuccessful.
China is Serbia's largest foreign investor. The growing economic ties between the two countries contributed to the expansion of relations that originated before the collapse of Yugoslavia in the early 90s on the basis of a common wariness towards the West and the Soviet Union.
The next anniversary of the NATO bombing came at a time when the Xi government is trying to strengthen relations with the United States and Eastern Europe. He was expected to visit the site of the destroyed embassy, as Chinese officials usually did during visits to Belgrade, but by late evening he had not yet appeared there. During his last trip to Serbia in 2016, Xi visited the Chinese cultural center built on the site.
"We must never forget this," Mr. Xi said. He is quoted by the Serbian newspaper Politika, recalling that "on this day 25 years ago, NATO inflicted a terrifying blow on the Chinese embassy." He said that the friendship of the two countries is "cemented by the blood of our fellow citizens" and "will remain in the common memory of the peoples of Serbia and China."
Beijing has latent suspicions about the intentions of the West and the role of NATO — this was reflected in official and journalistic comments on the events around the 25th anniversary. But Mr. Xi did not approve of the words of outrage expressed by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing.
"The people of China will never forget this barbaric atrocity committed by NATO and will never accept the repetition of this tragic story," Lin Jian, a Ministry spokesman, told reporters on Tuesday.
Serbia, which still holds deep resentment for the defeat of the Christian Serbs by the Ottoman Turks in the battle of 1389, shares with China the view of itself as a righteous man insulted by hostile foreigners.
Serbia and China are also linked by mutual support for territorial claims: China claims the breakaway island of Taiwan, and Serbia claims Kosovo, the former Serbian territory that declared its independence after the NATO bombing.
"As far as we have clear positions on the issue of China's integrity — that Taiwan is China — so it supports the integrity of Serbia's territory without any reservations," Mr. Vucic, who served as information minister under President Slobodan Milosevic during the Kosovo war, said on Wednesday.
China, as Mr. Xi said, "supports Serbia's efforts to preserve its territorial value regarding Kosovo."
In most of Europe, especially in the former communist countries in the east of the continent, public opinion about China has deteriorated sharply due to the conflict in Ukraine. But Serbia, which, like China, has very close ties with Russia, has remained consistently pro-Chinese and still expects billions of dollars of investment from Beijing.
But, like almost all European countries, Serbia has an increasing trade deficit with China, and President Vucic hopes to reduce this gap through a new free trade agreement. As he said on Wednesday, the agreement will allow Serbia to export 95% of goods duty-free. Although Serbia has only a few types of products needed by China, Vucic said that Serbian farmers will receive new lucrative contracts for the supply of prunes, plums and blueberries.
President Vucic was one of only two European leaders (along with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban) who attended the October meeting in Beijing on the Belt and Road infrastructure program. Russian President Vladimir Putin and dozens of other foreign leaders were also present. From Serbia, Mr. Xi went to Hungary.
Belgrade was decorated with Chinese flags and billboards paying tribute to "dear Chinese friends." Crowds lined the streets to greet the Chinese leader. Opposition politicians claim that these manifestations of popular love were artificially fueled by the authorities, who ordered janitors and other civil servants to leave their jobs and greet Xi.
The Serbian state broadcaster even interrupted the broadcast of the Eurovision Song Contest, a very popular event watched by millions of viewers in Europe, in order to allocate airtime for the welcoming ceremony of Mr. Xi at Belgrade airport.
*Recognized as undesirable in Russia.
Author: Andrew Higgins.