Collateral damage

The bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade that killed four civilians is the kind of tragedy that reveals the essential difference between human beings and political beings. The sorrow and anger of the Chinese people is genuine, as is the remorse expressed by people of the NATO countries. The blame-shifting by the NATO leaders is exceeded in cynicism only by the flame-fanning by the Chinese government.

For nearly a month, NATO has tied to win a war without fighting one. It has all but promised Slobodan Milosevic that ground troops probably won’t be deployed until he surrenders. The Yugoslavian army, not having to mass together to fend off an invasion, gets to break up into small, hard-to-bomb, units to rampage through the Kosovo countryside. NATO’s attempts to swat these flies with a sledgehammer inevitably lead to collateral damage and other euphemisms for innocent bystanders getting killed.

Now, the bombing of a sovereign, non-combatant nation (and a hostile, nuclear nation, to boot) and the killing of four of its citizens. It was clearly an accident of the bumbling, arrogant variety, the result of the Central Intelligence Agency using old information, including ordinary Belgrade street maps. From 15,000 feet, the NATO bombers had no way of knowing that the Yugoslav arms agency in the targeted building moved out more than two years ago and the Chinese embassy moved in. The CIA, predictably, blames Congress for cutting its budget. Congress predictably argues about which of the last three or four presidents to blame.

But for sheer shamelessness, it’s hard to top Chinese politicians. It goes too far to suggest they somehow contributed to this tragic event – after all, other countries still have embassies in the Yugoslavian capital – but Beijing sure knows how to play the victim card. With a revolutionary zeal not seen in a decade, the state-controlled press portrays the West as decadent, bloodthirsty imperialists; the expressions of remorse and sympathy by NATO leaders are not reported. The Chinese people, usually discouraged (to put it mildly) from gathering in large groups to make political statements, are being transported on government buses to the riots. The police look on, gather rocks, light fuses, help out any way they can. For the government, it’s a welcome distraction from all the nagging about stolen nuclear secrets, illegal trade practices and, just in time for the 10th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, human rights violations.

China must take care that by encouraging riots in its streets it is not unleashing a whirlwind. The tanks of 10 summers ago, however, are ample evidence that Beijing knows how to keep law and order when it wants. Things aren’t so simple for NATO. It must make full restitution for China’s loss. It must continue to express regret. Above all, it must decide whether it will win this war or become the ultimate victim of collateral damage.