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Recovering from Littleton | Washington Journal | Embassy Bombing

Embassy Bombing Prompts Calls for Answers
Reaction spans the globe
By Perla Ni

NATO’s mistaken bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, has set off reverberations still felt worldwide—including in San Francisco, where Supervisor Leland Yee on Monday called for his colleagues to join him in pressing for details.

Under his proposal, city officials would urge congressional delegates to ask for more details about Saturday’s bombing, which killed at least three people, all Chinese journalists. Yee’s measure is scheduled for a vote next week.

"Efforts should have been made to identify non-military building and locations," Yee said. "Yet innocent lives were lost and many injured due to the serious oversight and negligence on the part of NATO."

Though the bombing came as students nationwide and overseas were preparing for finals, few could ignore the news. On Monday, students at City College of San Francisco were evacuated from the cafeteria after someone claimed that a bomb had been planted there in retaliation for Saturday’s missile strike, according to City College Chancellor Philip Day. University police and SFPD officials searched the cafeteria and adjacent offices, but found nothing. Students were allowed to return by the afternoon.

Halfway around the world, University of Nebraska at Lincoln student Andrew Goranson, an exchange student in Beijing, reported that he had been kicked out of a cab, yelled at and advised not to leave his dorm room.

Goranson said he plans to return to Nebraska on July 18,though four other Americans at his unnamed school have already left for home.

"I just want to learn Chinese," said the 22-year-old in an interview with the Omaha World Herald. "I’m not a politician."

Meanwhile in Madison, Wis., Chinese student Lily Yun Liang said the bombing’s timing was particularly unfortunate, coming amid allegations about improper campaign donations and, more recently, espionage.

"Whether the bombing is intentional or unintentional, it is a wrongful act." said Liang, president of the Chinese Undergraduate Student Association.

Shiyu Song, who witnessed the Tiananmen Square demonstrations in Beijing 10 years ago, said the bombing may have been a mistake but is inexcusable.

"The climate has changed," Song said, explaining that while many young Chinese still see America as a model of democracy, discontent has risen over how the U.S. government treats other nations.

Meanwhile in Beijing, protesters who had surrounded the U.S. Embassy since last weekend were showing signs of dissipating, as the government began encouraging them to go home. The botched airstrike set off anti-war protests worldwide, including in Taipei; Islamabad, Pakistan; Tokyo; Tel Aviv; Vientiane, Laos; and Copenhagen, Denmark.

From New Jersey, Professor John Young cautioned against demonstrations, particularly violent ones.

"This problem cannot be solved by rallying students, throwing eggs and rocks and burning consulates," said Young, former executive director of the Committee of 100, a Chinese American advocacy group."My feeling is that both sides should consider the seriousness of this. The only solution is for both sides to exercise good sense."

Young noted: "The creation of the new global order is the work of everybody. Both sides should consider the macro aspect of this and pursue the matter with conciliation."

Moreover, Young said he worried that the spy allegations and now the bombing could "create more difficulty for China to accept Prime Minister Zhu Rhonji’s concessions.

Pointing out that some in the Chinese military have proposed severing dialogue with the United States, Young said he worries that "the hard line in Beijing will have the upper hand and enforce a new policy against the United States and the Western world."

Pro-democracy advocate David Ma, whose Chinese Rights Party operates from Monterey Park, Calif., pointed to allegations that the Chinese government has been playing up the bombing for political leverage.

"The death of several diplomats is nothing to the Chinese government—they kill people all the time," Ma said. "In the past year, China has been giving a lot of concessions. It has been an underdog in the WTO negotiations, because of its human rights record, trademark violations, the spying allegations. Now the Chinese leadership seizes this as a trump card they have in terms of negotiating with the U.S. and Western powers."

Ma was not surprised by reports that the government had bused in some protesters. "They want to use this occasion to force the hands of the United States. Now we have to give them concessions. This is the way they want to play it."