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 US 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 United States European Command alone. One CIA officer was fired following an investigation.
The Chinese government declared the bombing a "barbarian act". 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 an investigation, citing anonymous NATO officials, that the bombing had been deliberate. Believing the embassy was permitting Yugoslav army rebroadcasts, NATO allegedly transferred the embassy from a prohibited target list to a designated target list. Jiang Zemin, General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party in 1999, admitted in 2011 he allowed Yugoslav military units to operate from the embassy. US and UK officials called the joint investigation a fabrication. An April 2000 investigation by The New York Times produced no evidence of deliberate attack.
Most Chinese people continue to believe the attack was deliberate. A 2002 survey of China-US relations experts found 1 of 30 US experts and 16 of 28 Chinese experts believed the bombing was intentional, and of the latter sixteen, fourteen did not suspect Clinton's involvement. The Chinese government similarly rejected the June 17 final explanation by a US delegation, calling it "by no means acceptable to the Chinese Government and people". The bombing prompted the People's Liberation Army to consolidate air defense, and develop cyberwarfare and anti-satellite capabilities.
In August 1999, the US agreed to compensate the victims of the bombing and their families. In December, the US agreed to compensate China for damage to the embassy, and China agreed to compensate the US for damage to consular property in the resulting demonstrations in China. 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. A Chinese Cultural Center was completed on the former embassy site in 2020.
