Unidentified Chinese journalists weep over the body of their colleague, Shao Yunhuan, one of three Chinese killed when NATO bombed the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade. (AP)

By John Pomfret
Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, May 11, 1999; Page A1

BEIJING, May 10 – As government-orchestrated protests against the United States widened today, Chinese President Jiang Zemin said NATO must stop bombing Yugoslavia before the U.N. Security Council considers any peace plan to end the Kosovo conflict.

Jiang, speaking by telephone with Russian President Boris Yeltsin, effectively laid down a new condition for any U.N. action because China has a veto in the Security Council.

In his first public remarks since NATO's mistaken bombing of China's embassy in Belgrade Friday, Jiang also condemned Western powers for their "gunboat diplomacy" and demanded an official apology from the United States, according to China's official news agency.

In Washington, President Clinton, Defense Secretary William S. Cohen and Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright extended televised apologies to the Chinese government for the Belgrade attack that killed three Chinese journalists.

It wasn't immediately clear whether the statements would satisfy Beijing. Chinese officials had expressed displeasure with Clinton's apology Saturday in which he tempered his remarks by also blaming Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic for his "barbaric" actions against ethnic Albanians in Kosovo.

Clinton today called the bombing an "isolated, tragic event" that should not be compared with the "deliberate and systematic crime" of Serbian violence in Kosovo.

Albright reiterated "our profound sorrow at the loss of life and injuries. . . . The people of China should know that NATO leaders, including President Clinton, have apologized for this tragic error. NATO will provide China with a full explanation of how this could have occurred, even as we continue to pursue a broad-based relationship . . . that serves both our interests."

Clinton yesterday authorized Motorola Inc. to go forward with its planned launch of a satellite atop a Chinese rocket next month. White House officials called the decision coincidental and unrelated to the administration's campaign to mollify the Chinese in the wake of the accidental bombing.

On the third day of large street demonstrations in Beijing, the protesters differed markedly from those who exploded in anger during the weekend. Then, students dominated the procession that filed by the U.S. and British embassies, tossing rocks, paint and molotov cocktails.

Today, in an apparent attempt to show the broad opposition to NATO's attacks, protesters came from all walks of life – artists, airplane designers, Buddhist monks and a Catholic priest. In many cases, participants were bussed to the demonstration site. They also were provided with bullhorns and a list of government-approved slogans.

Although the protests have been choreographed by the government, the emotions – underscored by placards saying "Clinton is a Nazi" and "Kill Americans" – are genuine.

Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan summoned U.S. Ambassador James R. Sasser, who was besieged by thousands of protesters, to the foreign ministry this afternoon. Sasser refused to go, citing security concerns. So Tang read the American envoy a list of four demands on the telephone. First, Tang said, China wanted an "open and full apology" for the attack; second, an investigation; third, publication of the inquiry's results, and, fourth, for the United States to "severely punish those responsible for the attack."

Chinese state-run media continued to evoke nationalistic sentiments, showing film clips of the father of one of the three dead journalists clutching the blood-stained blanket of his daughter, Zhu Ying. In another scene, he was shown embracing her corpse. "Why did NATO kill my daughter and my son-in-law?" said the man, shaking with sadness and rage.

The People's Daily, the official publication of the Communist Party, used a front-page editorial titled, "China will not be bullied," to renew its charge that the embassy bombing was deliberate. It made no mention of American apologies or of a letter Clinton sent to Jiang, explaining that the attack was a mistake. "If people think they can use arms to scare Chinese, they have made a big mistake," the editorial said.

The developments highlighted China's main goals stemming from NATO's strike against its embassy.

On the international front, China is using the tragedy to increase its profile, position itself as a peacemaker and aggrieved party and sidestep American-led attempts to modify its behavior, Western analysts said.

To that end, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhu Bangzao announced earlier today that China was suspending its cooperation with the United States to stop the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, the first concrete step the government has taken following the NATO attack. The suspension affected areas of key interest to the United States, including concerns that China has provided nuclear weapons or missile technology to Pakistan, Iran or possibly other countries. China also suspended its dialogue with the United States on human rights and stopped high-level military contacts with Washington.

The Chinese moves were another indication that relations between Washington and Beijing, which have been deteriorating for the last six months, face their worst crisis since ties were normalized 20 years ago.

The toll in diplomatic, economic and cultural contacts continued to rise. In Washington, the U.S. State Department issued an advisory warning Americans to postpone travel to China "until the situation stabilizes."

The list of American visits to China canceled since Friday include those of Assistant Secretary of State Stanley Roth, Assistant U.S. Trade Representative Robert Cassidy, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley and an entourage of about 100 Midwest business executives, and the National Symphony Orchestra.

"These are symbolic acts but they fuel the already extant downward spiral in relations with the United States," said David Shambaugh, an expert on Chinese security at George Washington University and the Brookings Institution. "It's more signs of bad news in the relationship."

Jiang was quoted by the New China News Agency as telling Yeltsin in a hotline conversation that continued NATO bombing would make it "impossible for the U.N. Security Council to discuss any plan to solve the problem" in Kosovo – a sign that China would not cooperate in the 15-member body unless NATO stopped its attacks. NATO has vowed to continue the bombing until Yugoslavia accepts all its conditions for restoring peace, security and autonomy to Kosovo.

Meanwhile, Yeltsin's Balkan envoy, former prime minister Viktor Chernomyrdin, arrived in Beijing tonight for consultations – another indication of China's attempts to use the attack to bolster its international role.

At the United Nations, China continued to press its insistence that the Security Council issue a presidential statement condemning the embassy bombing. All 15 members, including the United States, must acquiesce in such a statement, which would not have the binding effect under international law of a council resolution.

Domestically, Beijing has continued to encourage the protests to rally popular sentiments in favor of the government and divert attention from a faltering economy and widespread social problems, such as unemployment and official corruption. In less than three weeks, the 10th anniversary of the June 4, 1989 crackdown on student-led demonstrations at Tiananmen Square will pass. By fanning Chinese nationalism, the government is seeking to cover the memory of that crackdown, several Chinese sources said.

Among the participants in today's protests were 80 Buddhist monks, who read from the approved list of slogans, chanting "Down with American imperialism."

A senior Chinese source said that within China, the People's Liberation Army and other hardline anti-American factions were poised to benefit the most from the crisis.

"There are factions that are speaking about resuming nuclear tests, selling weapons and missile technology," he said. "There is no decision yet on how to proceed. A lot of this depends on how the United States acts."

Staff writers Steven Mufson and John F. Harris in Washington, and John M. Goshko at the United Nations contributed to this report.