WikipediaExtracts:United States bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade
Extracted from Wikipedia --
The bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, also known in China as the May 8th incident, occurred May 7, 1999, during the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, when a United States Air Force B-2 Spirit dropped five Joint Direct Attack Munition satellite-guided bombs on the Embassy of China, Belgrade, FR Yugoslavia, killing three Chinese journalists and injuring twenty-seven others. According to the US, the intention had been to bomb the headquarters of Yugoslav weapons importer Yugoimport, 440 meters south on the same street. President Bill Clinton apologized for the bombing, claiming it was an accident.
Central Intelligence Agency director George Tenet later testified the bombing was the only one in the campaign organized by his agency, and that the CIA had "miscalculated" the Yugoimport coordinates from its address. The Yugoimport building was later bombed but remains standing as of 2019. The US claimed its own map and satellite imagery analysis approved the target while failing to identify it as an embassy. Although extensively referenced as a NATO mission and aircraft, all B-2 strikes were targeted and flown under US European Command alone. One CIA officer was fired following an investigation.
The Chinese government declared the bombing a "barbarian act" and rejected the June 17 final explanation by a US delegation, calling it "by no means acceptable to the Chinese Government and people". Anti-US and anti-NATO protests, many tens of thousands strong, swept across China. Crowds outside US and NATO missions in major cities threw rocks and destroyed vehicles, setting alight the US Consul General's residence in Chengdu. No serious injuries occurred. Around the world, Chinese students and diaspora peacefully protested at US embassies.
In October 1999, The Observer and Politiken published a joint investigation concluding that the bombing was deliberate. Believing the embassy was hosting rebroadcasting for the Yugoslav Army, NATO allegedly transferred the embassy from a prohibited target list to a designated target list. Jiang Zemin, China's paramount leader in 1999, admitted in 2011 that he allowed Yugoslav military units to operate from the embassy. The embassy was also reportedly collecting measurement and signature intelligence on NATO aircraft and missiles, including the B-2 and F-117A stealth aircraft, and China was allegedly obtaining components from the shootdown of an F-117A in Yugoslavia two months prior. US and UK officials called the newspapers' investigation a fabrication. An April 2000 investigation by The New York Times produced no evidence of deliberate attack.
In August 1999, the US agreed to pay $4.5 million to the victims of the bombing and their families. In December, the US agreed to compensate China $28 million for damages to the embassy, and China agreed to compensate the US $2.87 million for protestors' damages. In May, the United States–China Relations Act of 2000 paved the way for China's entry into the World Trade Organization. By June 2000, during a visit to China by US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, both sides said that relations between them had improved. However, most Chinese people continue to believe the attack was deliberate. A 2002 survey of 28 Chinese security experts found 16 respondents believed the bombing was intentional even though fourteen of them did not suspect Clinton's involvement. The bombing prompted the People's Liberation Army to consolidate domestic air defense, develop cyberwarfare and anti-satellite capabilities, and reconsider its nuclear weapons policy. A Chinese Cultural Center was completed on the former embassy site in 2020.
