Beijing expresses support for Serbia in renewed Kosovo clashes

China yesterday expressed its support for Serbia’s efforts to “safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity” following renewed violence between ethnic Serbs and NATO peacekeeping troops in Kosovo.

China’s ruling Communist Party has long been a critic of the NATO alliance, stemming partly from the bombing of Beijing’s embassy in Belgrade during the 1999 air campaign to end Serbia’s brutal crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists in Kosovo.

The bombing, in which three Chinese journalists were killed, has long been used by Beijing to mobilize anti-Western sentiment. The U.S. apologized for the attack, blaming it on faulty intelligence. Its diplomatic missions in Beijing and other Chinese cities were assaulted in the fallout, setting ties on a negative trajectory that has grown ever more tense in recent years.

China, along with Russia and Serbia, does not recognize Kosovo’s 2008 independence and Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning yesterday placed the blame for the violence on a failure to respect Serbian political rights.

“We oppose unilateral actions by the Provisional Institutions of Self-Government of Kosovo,” Mao said at a daily news briefing, referring to the Kosovo government in Pristina.

Despite Serbs boycotting recent local elections and seeking to prevent ethnic Albanian mayors from taking office, Mao said Serbs should be granted control over municipalities where they form majorities. MDT/AP