Praising the “ironclad friendship” between the countries, the letter also poured scorn on NATO who bombed the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade on this day 25-years ago. Published ahead of Xi’s visit to Serbia today, Xi used the letter to underline the longstanding cooperation between the countries: “There has always been an affinity between Chinese and Serbian peoples despite the long distance between us,” he said. “During the bitter Anti-Fascist War and our respective nation-building in the last century, the Chinese and Serbian peoples forged a strong friendship that extends through time and space.”
Xi also touched on the economic ties enjoyed by the two: “Serbia is China’s first free trade partner in Central and Eastern Europe,” he wrote. “Last year, China was Serbia’s largest source of foreign investment and its second largest trading partner. Our thriving cooperation in trade and economic relations, industrial chain, and infrastructure development lends a great boost to our respective process of modernization.”
Saliently, Xi’s visit coincides with the 25th anniversary of the NATO bombing of the Chinese Embassy, an event that resulted in the deaths of three Chinese nationals. “Twenty-five years ago today, NATO flagrantly bombed the Chinese embassy in Yugoslavia, killing three Chinese journalists,” he wrote. “This we should never forget.”
NATO’s 78-days of airstrikes remain contentious to this day, with Xi making it clear that the diplomatic rift that they had caused had not fully healed. “The Chinese-Serbian friendship, forged with the blood of our compatriots, will stay in the shared memory of the Chinese and Serbian peoples,” he wrote.
Hinting at China’s dislike of perceived Western meddling in the foreign affairs of others, Xi continued: “China respects and supports the development path that the Serbian people have chosen of their own will. We support Serbia’s efforts to uphold its sovereignty and territorial integrity, and oppose any attempt by any forces to interfere in Serbia’s internal affairs.”
Last visiting in 2016, Xi’s two-day visit will include high-level talks with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic. According to Vucic, discussion will cover “accelerated technological development projects in those areas in which there is insufficient knowledge (in Serbia), from robotics to satellite technology and flying cars, to many other things."
