The New York Times

Tuesday, June 13, 2000

Chinese Official, at Yugoslav Parliament, Denounces NATO

By REUTERS

BELGRADE, Serbia, June 12 -- Li Peng, head of the Chinese Parliament, denounced NATO today for its 1999 air war on Serbia in an address to Yugoslavia's Parliament, saying the American-led alliance had violated the United Nations charter.

Mr. Li, the most senior foreign official to visit Belgrade since the bombing campaign, also met with President Slobodan Milosevic, who was indicted by a United Nations tribunal for war crimes said to have been committed by his forces last year in Kosovo, the Serbian province. State television said the two leaders discussed strengthening relations and developing economic ties, but gave no details.

The report on the meeting, which took place on the day the United Nations marked its first year in charge of Kosovo, harshly criticized the United Nations and NATO-led peacekeeping presence. It said the minority Serbs in Kosovo were being subjected to "genocide," adding that international forces should leave and Serbian troops should return to ensure a secure environment.

NATO bombed Yugoslavia for 78 days to pressure its security forces to end a crackdown on ethnic Albanians seeking self-rule in Kosovo.

Mr. Li said in his speech that NATO's air campaign was flagrant interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign state. "This constitutes a violation of the purposes of the U.N. Charter and the universally recognized norms governing international relations and poses a serious threat to stability in Europe and peace in the world," he said.

Mr. Li visit was widely seen as a sign of support to President Milosevic, who has been ostracized by the West and faces growing opposition at home with local and federal elections due later this year.

China, with Russia, strongly opposed the NATO bombing, during which missiles hit the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade, killing three Chinese. Mr. Li called the embassy bombing "a gross violation of China's sovereignty." And he said the Kosovo issue remained unresolved, referring to the ethnic violence that has continued to plague the province despite the arrival of the NATO-led peacekeeping troops on June 12 last year.

Frozen out by much of the world as punishment for its role in a series of Balkan wars in the 1990's, Belgrade has turned to China, Russia and other non-Western countries for support and help in rebuilding its shattered economy.