ates bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade

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United States bombing of the Chinese embassy in

Belgrade

The Embassy Building in 2009, demolished in 2011. In 1999, the

embassy was damaged by the United States.

Location Belgrade, Serbia, Yugoslavia

Coordinates 44.8250°N

20.4190°ECoordinates:  44.8250°N

20.4190°E

Date May 7, 1999

Target Disputed

Attack type Aerial bombing

Deaths 3 Chinese journalists

Injured 27

Perpetrators United States (accidental)

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Kosovo War

On May 7, 1999, during the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia (Operation Allied Force), five

US Joint Direct Attack Munition guided bombs hit the People's Republic of
China embassy in the Belgrade district of New Belgrade, killing three Chinese
 journalists and outraging the Chinese public. According to the U.S. government, the
intention had been to bomb the nearby Yugoslav Federal Directorate for Supply and
Procurement. President Bill Clinton later apologized for the bombing, stating it was
accidental.[1] Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director George Tenet testified before a
congressional committee that the bombing was the only one in the campaign organized
and directed by his agency,[2] and that the CIA had identified the wrong coordinates for a
Yugoslav military target on the same street.[3] The Chinese government issued a
statement on the day of the bombing, stating that it was a "barbarian act". [4]

Contents

 1Sequence of events
 2Chinese reaction
o 2.1Settlement
 3Official investigation and reporting in the aftermath
o 3.1Official State Department account
o 3.2George Tenet statement
o 3.3Chinese reaction
 4Observer and Politiken investigation
 5ICTY investigation
 6Amnesty International report
 7Aftermath
o 7.1Future of the location
o 7.2Rise of anti-Western sentiment
 8See also
 9References
 10External links

Sequence of events[edit]
In the days prior to the bombing, an attack folder labelled "Belgrade Warehouse 1" was
circulated for command approval. The folder originated within the CIA and described the
target as a warehouse for a Yugoslav government agency suspected of arms
proliferation activities. In this form, the strike was approved by President Clinton.
It is unclear if other NATO leaders approved the strike. A report by the French Ministry
of Defense after the war stated that "part of the military operations were conducted by
the United States outside the strict framework of NATO" [5] and that a dual-track
command structure existed. NATO had no authority over the B-2 stealth bombers that
carried out the strike.
According to the CIA account, the target was checked against 'no-strike' databases but
these raised no alarms; these are lists of protected sites such as schools, hospitals and
places of worship. The joint Observer/Politiken investigation later reported its journalists
had interviewed various NATO and US officers who had checked the databases the
morning after the attack and found the embassy listed at its correct location.
On the night of May 7–8, the strike was carried out by bombers of the United States Air
Force's 509th Bomb Wing flying directly out of Whiteman AFB, Missouri. The bombers
were armed with JDAM GPS-guided precision