On March 24, 1999, NATO commenced air strikes against Yugoslavia. On May 7, five bombs hit the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, killing three people and injuring over 20.
"Chinese people will never forget the blood and the lives that it gave for protection of truth, honesty and justice. And it will never forget the barbaric crimes of US-led NATO as well," Wang told a briefing.
He pointed out that on the one hand, NATO portrays itself as a regional defense alliance, but on the other hand, it constantly heightens regional tensions and generates bloc adversities.
"Following the end of the Cold War, US-led NATO has repeatedly stirred up conflicts all over the world, from Bosnia and Herzegovina to Kosovo, from Iraq to Afghanistan, from Libya to Syria," the spokesman said.
He emphasized that NATO continues to expand its presence to the East, to the Asia-Pacific region, creating bloc opposition and disrupting regional peace and stability.
"US-led NATO needs to give serious thought to its crimes, to completely abandon its outdated, Cold War era mentality and to stop provoking regional conflicts and causing discord and riots," Wang said.
In 1999, an armed confrontation between Albanian separatists from the Kosovo Liberation Army and the Serbian army led to a bombing of what was then the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, consisting of Serbia and Montenegro, by NATO forces. The operation was undertaken without the approval of the UN Security Council and was based on allegations by Western countries that the Yugoslav authorities were allegedly carrying out ethnic cleansing of Kosovo Albanians. NATO airstrikes continued from March 24 to June 10, 1999 and claimed the lives of over 2,500 people, including 87 children.