![]() China supported Belgrade rhetorically and at the United Nations during the Kosovo War, opposing NATO airstrikes alongside Russia even before the embassy bombing. In addition to honoring those killed in the bombing, the events of 1999 have been a springboard for Beijing’s ties with Serbia. Those events have also helped lay the symbolic foundation for the new Chinese cultural center.Ĭhinese leader Xi Jinping (frot left) pays homage to those killed in the embassy bombing during a state visit to Belgrade in 2016. China would go on to receive $28 million in compensation from Washington for the bombing but the reputational damage appears irreversible, with many in China and Serbia still viewing it as an intentional strike. officials have strenuously denied that it was deliberate and no clear evidence otherwise has since come to light. Unanswered questions in the bombing’s aftermath would fuel speculation that the strikes were targeted, but NATO and U.S. “We should look at as not only a hub for China’s presence in Serbia, but also as a hub with the potential to spread the influence of Chinese companies and culture across the Balkans,” Vladisavljev said. The Serbian government also recently reached an agreement on direct flights with China. Serbian universities have inked cooperation agreements with their Chinese counterparts and the Balkan country is home to two state-run Confucius Institutes. ![]() In moves that have also caught the attention of Washington and Brussels, the Serbian government has also purchased drones and missile-defense systems from China and bought thousands of Huawei surveillance systems that have facial-recognition capabilities.Ĭhina Deepens Its Balkans Ties Using Serbian Universitiesīut China’s presence is also growing in more subtle ways that the new cultural center will look to build upon. Billions of dollars in Chinese investment have also flooded into Serbia in recent years, funding mines and factories across the country as billions more in infrastructure loans have built roads, bridges, and new facilities. While Chinese ties date back to the Yugoslav era, the relationship between the world’s most populous country and Belgrade has expanded under the rule of President Aleksandar Vucic, who was first elected in 2017. ![]() It’s not only a vision of the future for relations between Serbia and China - it’s also about lamenting the past together,” Stefan Vladisavljev, an expert on Beijing’s role in the Balkans and program director at Foundation BFPE, a Belgrade-based think tank, told RFE/RL.Īs China rapidly extends its reach in the Balkans, its growing influence is unmistakable in Serbia. “That’s why this place brings such symbolism. Once opened, it will serve not only as a potent symbol of China’s growing presence in the Balkans, but also of the perceived tragedy and humiliation suffered by Beijing and Belgrade at the hands of the West. ![]() It will house classrooms, a Confucius Institute, exhibitions, office space for Chinese and Serbian companies, and also accommodation for diplomats and other visiting delegations. Nearly a quarter of a century later, the site of the bombed former embassy is being transformed into an expansive Chinese cultural center set to be one of the largest in all of Europe. People push carts in front of the remnants of the Chinese Embassy during its demolition in Belgrade in 2010.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |