Global Times
March 26, 2021

U.S.-led NATO still owes blood debt to Chinese people: FM

[Edited by RR. Here in Chicago we marched to the Chinese consulate and laid flowers outside the building in honor of the dead in what was one of weekly marches against the war organized by the Serbian Unity Congress.]

We are each of us responsible for everyone and everything: Fyodor Dostoevsky

“China would like to remind NATO that they still owe a debt of blood to the Chinese people….The dead have passed away, but the living need more vigilance and reflection.”
“Whether in Yugoslavia, Iraq, Libya or Syria, we should never forget the lives of ordinary people lost to repeated bombardment, the crumbling walls under the shells, the glorious historical sites consumed by the flames.”
“When they blatantly launched a war against a sovereign country without the Security Council’s authorization, causing hundreds of thousands of deaths and the dispersal of millions of people, did they ever care about the human rights of the people in those countries? Is this what they mean by international rules? Shouldn’t they be held accountable for their war actions?”

Monument to commemorate three Chinese journalists killed in the U.S.-led NATO bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Friday that the US-led NATO, which previously bombed the then-Yugoslavia, killing many innocent civilians including three Chinese journalists, still owes a debt to the Chinese people, against the backdrop of Serbia’s nation-wide commemoration of the deaths of thousands of innocent people, in what Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic condemned as “a horrific act of crime, and act of aggression” from NATO.

Serbian people marked another Remembrance Day for the Victims of the NATO Aggression on Wednesday, held on the 22nd anniversary of the beginning of the 78-day attack spearheaded by the United States, which took away the lives of many civilians and brought immense material damages.

Hua Chunying, spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said at a routine press briefing on Friday that NATO should not forget that in 1999 the US-led NATO, in serious violation of relevant international laws and basic norms governing international relations, bombed the then-Yugoslavia, killing a large number of innocent civilians, including three Chinese journalists.

Speaking at a NATO foreign ministers meeting in Brussels this week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on NATO members to help counter the threat from an “aggressive and coercive” China. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg indicated [that] China [was] a “challenge.”

“China would like to remind NATO that they still owe a debt of blood to the Chinese people….The dead have passed away, but the living need more vigilance and reflection,” Hua said.

Hua pointed out that the trend of world development today is peace and development, and such a historical trend is unstoppable. However, “we have also seen that power politics and hegemonism still resurface from time to time, seriously endangering and threatening world security, stability and international equity and justice.”

“Whether in Yugoslavia, Iraq, Libya or Syria, we should never forget the lives of ordinary people lost to repeated bombardment, the crumbling walls under the shells, the glorious historical sites consumed by the flames,” Hua said.

“The US and some Western countries have kept their mouths open about human rights and kept their mouths shut about their responsibilities….When they blatantly launched a war against a sovereign country without the Security Council’s authorization, causing hundreds of thousands of deaths and the dispersal of millions of people, did they ever care about the human rights of the people in those countries? Is this what they mean by international rules? Shouldn’t they be held accountable for their war actions?” Hua asked.

China and Serbia are both countries that do not fear power and who cherish peace. China is ready to work with Serbia and all peace-loving countries to safeguard international fairness and justice and jointly safeguard and promote world peace, stability and development, Hua said.

“Times when the big bullied the small and the strong bullied the weak are long gone,” Hua said. “We call on all countries to jointly resist unilateral bullying and unfold the fist of violence into the hand of upholding peace,” she added.

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Global Times
March 27, 2021

China will not allow history to repeat itself, Chinese defense minister said during a visit to site of Chinese Embassy in former Yugoslavia

”The Chinese military will never allow history to repeat itself as China is capable and determined to defend its national interests,” Chinese State Councilor and Minister of Defense Wei Fenghe said on Friday as he paid tribute to martyrs in Belgrade, at the site of Chinese Embassy in former Yugoslavia that was bombed by NATO in 1999.

”Paying tribute to the martyrs at the site of the bombed Chinese Embassy in former Yugoslavia was a special trip,” Wei pointed out, saying that the Chinese military will never allow this kind of history to repeat itself and that China is fully capable and determined to defend its national sovereignty, security and development interests.

Prior to the visit on Friday afternoon, Wei met with the Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić.

Chinese observes noted that China, during the trip, held the principle of building and deepening good bilateral relations and military exchanges with European nations. But Wei’s visit to the site of the Chinese Embassy in former Yugoslavia also delivered the message that China is determined to respond to any provocative moves from others, including the US.

Wei’s visits to Hungary, Serbia, Greece and North Macedonia from Wednesday to March 31 came amid some NATO members moving to deploy or announced plans to deploy warships to the South China Sea with the excuse of the so-called Freedom of Navigation operations. These countries include France, Germany and the UK.

Some NATO members are attempting to play certain security roles in the “Indo-Pacific” region. China can respond by getting involved in security affairs in Europe and allow NATO to understand more about China as a global security actor, experts said.

NATO is picking a fight against China. ”When foreign ministers meeting of NATO members called China a ‘challenge’ a few days ago, we have to remind NATO that it owes a debt of blood to the Chinese people,” Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying said on Friday at the press briefing.

Hua said that it shall not be forgotten that the US-led NATO blatantly bombed Yugoslavia in 1999 in a severe violation of relevant international conventions and basic norms of international relations. In the process, killing many innocent civilians, including three Chinese journalists.

On March 24, Serbia commemorated the victims of the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia 22 years ago. Serbian President Vučić also remembered how NATO countries “attacked a sovereign country, without an approval of the United Nations,” and he condemned it as a ” horrific act of crime, and an act of aggression.”

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Letter to the Global Times
March 26, 2021

It is very good that you point out the aggression against Yugoslavia but I am very puzzled why you refer to 3 journalists being killed in the NATO attack on Yugoslavia  but do not refer to the attack on the Chinese embassy in Belgrade. The Americans fired 5 cruise missiles at the embassy, 4 of which exploded killing embassy staff. Luckily the missile aimed at the rooms where the ambassador was located failed to detonate and so he survived. This was a direct attack on China. Everyone in Serbia remembers this attack and many in the world.

Best regards

Christopher Black
International Criminal Lawyer
Chair, International Legal Committee for the Defence of President Milosevic,
Canada