With the timing of his visit to Belgrade, which started on Tuesday, Chinese President Xi Jinping wanted to send a critical message about the kind of international politics in which the United States unilaterally sets the rules. That day was exactly 25 years ago that five American bombs, during a NATO mission during the Kosovo war, hit the Chinese embassy in the Serbian capital – according to Washington by mistake. Three Chinese journalists were killed.
“It is a moment for China and Serbia to reflect on this shared history, which in their view is still relevant when it comes to America’s policy, including towards China,” said Dragan Pavlicevic, political scientist at the Xi’an Jiaotong- Liverpool University in Suzhou. NATO’s campaign in Serbia had failed to gain approval in the UN Security Council, which was strongly opposed by China and Russia. Now a symbol of China’s sovereignty had been attacked. China will “never forget” the incident, Xi wrote in an article in the Serbian newspaper on Tuesday Politics.
This is also what 35-year-old journalist Bo Lin, who writes about the Western Balkans, says. She remembers the streets of Shanghai, where she grew up, being filled with protesters and Chinese flags. “I was eleven, and of course I didn’t understand much of it. But you saw, and I heard this later from older friends, that it felt very personal for many people – as if they themselves had been offended, not something abstract.” The words of her primary school teacher, who called on her class after the bombing to think about what the event had to do with their own lives, also made a deep impression.
Cultural center
Yet, contrary to expectations, the Chinese leader did not visit the site of the bombing, where a Chinese cultural center now stands. The relationship with Europe should not be put under further pressure by too much hostility. “This trip is also about creating a positive moment in the China-Europe relationship,” said Pavlicevic. China wants to depoliticize its relationship with Europe so that they can focus on what matters most to them: economic relations.”
A NATO bombing brought China and Serbia together, but Xi did not bring this to a head
Although both presidents reaffirmed their close relations and reiterated their support for each other’s territorial claims – Serbia refuses to recognize Kosovo’s independence, China considers Taiwan a renegade province – economic agreements were indeed the main outcome of the visit. A free trade agreement that the two countries previously agreed will take effect on July 1, and there will be more cooperation in the fields of transport and energy.
On Monday, Xi was received almost as warmly by French President Macron, who had also invited European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. But issues were on the table in France that show that the relationship between China and Europe has become more difficult in recent years. Macron echoed European concerns about unfair competition from Chinese companies, and tried to convince Xi to work for an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine. Xi promised not to impose import duties on cognac for the time being, reiterated that China does not supply Moscow with weapons, and pledged to better monitor the export to Russia of goods with both civilian and military applications.
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After his visit to Serbia, Xi left for Hungary. He therefore chose two ‘misfits’ in Europe. While the EU is increasingly concerned about the security implications of economic cooperation with China, and elsewhere in Central and Eastern Europe, enthusiasm for cooperation with China has waned, Chinese ties with Serbia and Hungary have only strengthened.
Pressure agent
Xi’s visit also coincided with an anniversary in Hungary: Thursday marked exactly twenty years since the country joined the EU. In recent years, Hungarian President Viktor Orbán has regularly come into conflict with Brussels, which partly froze financial support to Hungary in response to his authoritarian policies. The growing Chinese investments in the country are therefore extra welcome. According to an analysis by the Central European journalistic platform VSquare, Orbán’s government regularly uses its growing economic dependence on China as leverage in negotiations with the EU. An article by Xi’s hand also appeared in advance in the newspaper in Hungary Magyar Nemzet. In it, Xi praised Budapest’s “independent” foreign policy.
Orbán called China “one of the pillars of the new world order” during a joint press conference with Xi on Thursday. He said he supported China’s peace plan for Ukraine, which calls for a ceasefire and peace talks. Xi said he supports a greater role for Hungary in the EU in promoting relations between Beijing and Europe. The country will take over the rotating presidency of the EU in July. The two agreed to deepen cooperation on trade, finance and nuclear energy. China also continues to contribute to a high-speed line between Budapest and Belgrade.
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Within the EU, everyone is on the same page more than before when it comes to relations with China, but differences remain. And China continues to be keen to show “what the value of the relationship can be for individual countries,” Pavlicevic said.
Bo published her first book this year, about collective memories in the Western Balkans. She traces her interest in the area back to her childhood memories. Such as film classics from socialist Yugoslavia, which were broadcast on Chinese television, even after the federation fell apart. But also to her teacher’s call on the Monday after the NATO bombing. “That was the seed.”
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