On May 8, 1999, Beijing time, a B-2 stealth bomber took off from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, and after a long journey of 15 hours, it dropped 5 jointly guided attack bombs on the Chinese Embassy in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, killing 3 Chinese journalists on the spot, injuring more than 20 people, and seriously damaging the embassy.
When the news came, the crowd was indignant.
The Chinese side believes that this is the United States retaliation for China's opposition to bombing the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and has lodged a strong protest with the United States. In the end, the incident ended with an apology from the United States and NATO's compensation to the Chinese victims and the Chinese embassy. In terms of results, China has won a legal and moral victory.
But many argue that the bombing of embassies is a symbol of attack on their country's sovereignty, that the actions of the United States and NATO are tantamount to declaring war, that apologies and reparations are not enough, and that China should take a tougher stance than just protest and condemn. But the struggle between the great powers has never been as simple as a reckless fight, and everything must be based on the national interest as the primary premise.
Looking at the "US bombing of our embassy incident" 22 years later, we will find that the hidden forbearance of the past is for today's take-off.
In this issue, I will explain why NATO bombed the Chinese embassy in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the confrontation behind it.
In 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed, and the United States won the Cold War and became the world's only superpower. The collapse of the Soviet Union also made the Western countries begin to be unscrupulous. Affected by the drastic changes in Eastern Europe, the internal contradictions of the Yugoslav Union became increasingly acute, and finally the Kosovo War broke out in 1999.
This was supposed to be a national war within the country, but it coincided with NATO's full-scale expansion in Europe. As a result, Western countries intervened in a large-scale manner and interfered in the internal affairs of the FryingIst Union, and the contradiction between NATO and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia gradually became the main contradiction in the war. NATO's dispatch of warplanes to bomb the Chinese Embassy can be said to have been premeditated. China's adherence to the independence of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and its opposition to NATO interference in the internal affairs of other countries have aroused the dissatisfaction of anti-China elements in the United States.
After the incident, the Chinese side issued a strong diplomatic protest, NATO first said at a press conference that "accidents in the war are inevitable" and "NATO's strikes are approved by multiple authorizations and are very reasonable."
However, this view is obviously not reasonable, and NATO has changed its name to calling it a "mistaken bombing", saying that the map used by intelligence personnel is decades ago, and mistaking the Chinese Embassy for a den for "militants". In this regard, the United States expressed a "sorry" to the Chinese side that was not very sincere.
Of course, we certainly don't believe the "accidental bombing" argument. The US National Investigation Bureau (NRO) has 15 reconnaissance satellites, and the US CIA has also arranged dozens of spy satellites over the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
The United States took off from the other side of the earth with "the best pilot in the world" and , "after a carefully planned flight," threw the "world's most advanced guided weapon" at the Chinese Embassy, which was located a few kilometers away from the "Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Arms Supply Headquarters" claimed by the United States, and the bomb accurately cut through the roof of the embassy and hit the basement.
Can this be called "accidental bombing"?
In 2005, a former senior NATO official revealed that NATO bombed because NATO believed that Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic was hiding in the Chinese Embassy. Rather than "accidental bombing," the attack was a well-planned "beheading operation" that ran to the Chinese Embassy.
Faced with the tragedy of 3 deaths and 20 injuries and the ruins of the embassy, the Chinese people were angry: this was a naked act of aggression. Immediately afterward, a huge anti-American demonstration broke out across the country, and people took to the streets to protest NATO's shameless behavior.
After the incident, US Secretary of State Albright rushed to the Chinese Embassy in the United States to apologize to Chinese Ambassador Li Zhaoxing. Albright said it was a "false bombing" and she was sad and wanted to express her condolences to the family of the deceased.
When the two met, a large number of reporters had arrived, and Li Zhaoxing was very angry, and he demanded that Albright publicly apologize in front of the reporters. Albright was surrounded by people, it was difficult to get out, and "had no choice but to issue a statement of "U.S. government apology."
On May 9, US President Clinton sent a letter of condolence, expressing the "apologies" of the US side. But this is far from enough, and the Chinese side demands that NATO severely punish the killers and demand that Clinton make a public and formal apology. On May 14, Li Zhaoxing came to the White House and met Clinton.
"Mr. President, we Chinese pay special attention to black and white, and if Mr. President sincerely apologizes, please write it down."
Clinton was silent for a moment, then wrote on the condolence note with a pen that he wrote "Deep condolences to the victims and sincere apologies to his family and Chinese and people," and attached his name.
Clinton later wrote in his autobiography that he was "unaware" of NATO's bombing of the Chinese embassy, and he was stunned when he heard the news, and repeatedly expressed his apologies. In terms of Clinton's attitude after engaging in it, there is a certain degree of credibility. After investigation, the bombing of the embassy was directed by the high-level hardliners in the United States against China.
Subsequently, China demanded that the United States thoroughly investigate the matter and make corresponding compensation. On May 12, the flags in Beijing were lowered to half-mast in mourning, and many NATO members, including the United States, Germany, and France, also lowered their flags to half-mast.
Britain, Italy, Ukraine, and other countries have sided with China and protested to the United States; France, Cuba, Romania, and other countries have also sent condolence telegrams; Russian President Boris Yeltsin has strongly condemned the shameless behavior of the United States and expressed the unanimous position of the two countries to Beijing.
In the end, the United States was pressured to punish CIA personnel, publicly apologized to the families of the victims of the incident, and paid $28 million in compensation. In response, China also compensated the U.S. Embassy damaged during the protests, and the matter came to an end.
At first glance, it looks as if we have won the game. In the context of a dominant international company in the United States, the United States "responds to all needs" and can be regarded as "giving enough face". But this was a moral victory, and the United States did bomb it, and it didn't have to be washed. The United States flagrantly violated our sovereignty, and then retreated with all its strength, almost bearing almost no losses, which made many Chinese people feel very humiliated. Some people have suggested that in dealing with such violations of our sovereignty, we must "harden up" and even express our attitude through war.
But if we look back at history, we will find that it was the best choice to hide it at that time.
After the fall of the Soviet Union, the United States was the only superpower, and the gap between us and it at that time was not a star and a half. In 1999, the GDP of the United States was as high as $9.63 trillion, accounting for almost 30% of the world's GDP, while China had only 1.09 trillion, less than 12% of the United States.
Militarily, China and the United States are even more orders of magnitude behind. In order to concentrate on economic development, China's army building has been stagnant for a long time, and military thinking has also stayed at the level of the 1970s and 1980s. During the Gulf War, although most people in China's military circles were not optimistic that Iraq could win, they believed that Iraq's military strength could resist for a long time, and even dragged the United States into the quagmire of war.
However, in just one month, the US military crushed Iraq, which is known as the "fourth in the world," and showed the world what "modern warfare" is, which greatly shocked our country. To be fair, in 1999, once war broke out between China and the United States, and the United States let go of its hand to strike at China, I am afraid that it would be difficult for China to win again like the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea.
That is why the United States is unscrupulous about China. The "three great shames" after the founding of the People's Republic of China: the Galaxy incident, the Taiwan Strait crisis, and the bombing of the Chinese embassy all occurred in the 1990s.
Moreover, at that time, China was wholeheartedly engaged in economic construction and was in a critical period of joining the WTO, and it must be cautious in dealing with any incident that may cause changes in relations between major countries. In other words, it was necessary to endure at that time.
The eldest husband was able to bend and stretch, and Liu Bang, the ancestor of Han Gao, once attacked Qiangqin and destroyed the Western Chu overlord, so that the land of China was once again unified, and the strength of the founding division of the Western Han Dynasty was very strong. But in the face of the powerful Xiongnu, Liu Bang also had to experience the humiliation of the "Siege of Baideng". In desperation, the Han Dynasty had to choose to "make peace" with the Xiongnu in exchange for development opportunities. Lü Yan, who was the queen of the country, could only smile and put up with a smile in the face of the filthy words of the Xiongnu Shan Yu. When the national strength of the Han Dynasty was not strong, the sword soldiers were raised again, and the odds of victory were slim, and the foundation alone was unstable and the country was shaken, which was enough for the Han Dynasty to drink a pot.
It was precisely because of the western Han Dynasty's early tolerance for foreign enemies that it was exchanged for the stable development of the country and the rule of Wenjing. However, during this period of great rule, the country was still facing the provocation of the Xiongnu at all times, and Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing, without exception, chose Taoguang to raise obscurity. During the period of Emperor Wu, after years of stable development, the Han Dynasty finally increased its national strength and strengthened its troops. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty attacked decisively, shamed before the snow, and defeated the Xiongnu in the first battle of mobei, and since then the Xiongnu have been far away, "mobei has no royal court", and the problem of foreign enemies that endangered the Han Dynasty for nearly a hundred years has been completely solved.
Reckless and reckless acts will only cause the country to suffer greater losses than embassies bombed. After the bombing incident, instead of seizing on the matter, China adjusted its policy toward the United States, highlighted its international influence, and made the United States believe that a stable and prosperous China is in the interests of the United States.
Therefore, only when China joined the WTO did it have it that it could develop peacefully and steadily in the new century. "Backwardness will be beaten", "development is the last word", these words are all kept in mind, only when we are strong can we not be bullied and not be controlled by others.
Today, the gap between us and the world's major powers has been greatly narrowed, great achievements have been made in economic and national defense construction, and other countries can no longer arbitrarily bully China as they did in the 1990s.
If you close my embassy, I will close you.
Fighting a trade war? Accompany you to the end.
The aircraft carrier marched into the South China Sea, completely afraid, because we also have it.
Now we have enough confidence to say "no" to external threats. And all this stems from the country's growing strength once forbearance, for the future take-off, laughing at the end is the real winner.