NATO Photo: Xinhua

 
Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Friday that the US-led NATO, which previously bombed 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 China as 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 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. 

“The 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 hands of upholding peace,” she added.


Global Times