Many Chinese still remember what happened in 1999 when NATO led a U.S.-led airstrike against Yugoslavia during the Kosovo War.

As a result, on the evening of May 7, the U.S. B-2 bombers dropped five precision-guided bombs and hit the head of the Chinese Embassy in South China. Three Chinese journalists, Zhou Yuan, Zhou Yong and Zhou Yi, were killed and more than twenty people were wounded.

As a result, the whole of China was upside down and down, the streets were protests around the crowd, but the national level did not engage in military counterattack.After 25 years, the United States was slowly thinking about, China was not moving, not afraid, but had a longer-term intention.

The explosion of the dragon.

In 1999, there was a fierce trouble in Kosovo, and armed conflicts between the Yugoslav government and ethnic Albanians continued. NATO felt that Yugoslavia was engaged in ethnic cleansing, so it decided to intervene. Beginning on March 24th, NATO carried out air strikes against Yugoslavia for 78 days without the approval of the UN Security Council.

This is a controversial point in international law, because Yugoslavia does not threaten NATO members. Bombing targets include bridges, power stations, military camps, etc. The US military uses high-tech weapons, such as B-2 stealth bombers and JDAM ammunition, with high hit rates.

On May 7, late at night in Belgrade local time, U.S. aircraft dropped bombs from different directions, four bombs hit the embassy, and one did not explode but crossed the roof of the ambassador's official residence.

The bombs hit the main building, the technical building and the middle part of the building, and the building collapsed seriously. Three people were killed, Shinhua news agency's Shao Yun Ling was a senior journalist, Lightning Daily's Chu Yue and Zhu Yue were both couples, both working at the embassy.

After the incident, the Chinese government immediately responded, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the American ambassador and submitted the strongest protest. The delegations of the National People's Congress, the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and the United Nations all issued statements asking the Security Council to hold an emergency meeting. Flags were flown at half-mast across the country to mourn. When the remains were transported back to China, many local people spontaneously mourned.

In the United States, President Clinton quickly apologized, saying that it was an intelligence error, using outdated maps and treating the embassy as an arms warehouse of Yugoslavia. The map was before 1996, and the Chinese Embassy only moved to No.3 Sakura Road in 1996. There are updated records in international documents.

But NATO used GPS and laser guidance, and other countries nearby embassies were okay, and China was accurately bombed three times.

As the British Observer and the Danish Politics later, it may have been intentional because of suspicions that the embassy was sending signals or collecting intelligence to the Southern Coalition.

Sources inside NATO revealed that the targets were removed from the banned bombing list, with high levels of approval, such as U.S. Secretary of State Albright or British Foreign Secretary Cook.

China is not in a hurry.

In 1999, the Chinese economy was taking off, but the military gap with the United States was large.The main force of the air force had just introduced the Su-27, the J-10 was still testing flight, and the aircraft carrier was not even a shadow.

The modernization of naval vessels is low and the anti-missile system is not perfect. If a direct counterattack, such as sending aircraft or missiles past, is easy to expose itself to NATO's firepower, it is easy to lose. The Southern Alliance war shows that NATO can bypass the United Nations in unilateral action, and if China is involved, it may be dragged into a bigger dungeon.

More importantly, China saw clearly the path of NATO.This was not a mere humanitarian intervention, but the United States wanted to expand its influence in Europe and dismantle the Southern Alliance.The Milosevic government was pro-Russia at the time, China opposed the bombing, and also voted against in the Security Council.

After the bombing, China retained the right to take further action, but chose diplomatic pressure.The United States subsequently paid $4.5 million to the families of the victims and $28 million to the monastery.

Instead, turn your energy to internal development. Military expenditure has increased year by year since that year, and the number of military posts has been reduced by 500,000, focusing on scientific and technological equipment. This is not about humiliating it, but about strategic sobriety. Historical experience tells us that impulsive response when weak hours is often not worth the candle. Just like in the past, when some countries faced the provocation of powerful countries, they first accumulated strength and then planned for the future.

Since then, China's military system has changed greatly. During the National Day military parade in 2009, domestic fighters such as J-10 and J-11 were unveiled, with complete early warning aircraft and missile phalanx.

The Air Force has shifted from import dependence to three-generation aircraft, the Air Force has added nuclear submarines and modern vessels. The Beidou system accelerated up into the sky, the anti-missile radar network. More and more exercises in the East Sea of the South China Sea, the aircraft carrier Liaoning served in 2012, and the Shandong vessel was included in 2019.

By 2025, sixth-generation drones, laser defense and supersonic missiles were all out. China's military industry ran from track to track, and Western media acknowledged this. The bombing hall events became a catalyst, making the nation realize that an independent military system is the bottom line.

The American reality is becoming increasingly realistic.

25 years ago, the United States now reacted, and China was still, not powerless, but agile.In 1999, at the peak of U.S. military power, it felt that apology and compensation could be flat.But China proved with time that silence was another response.

Military modernization has made China more underprivileged internationally, such as the South China Sea arbitration case, China has not relinquished, sent a fleet to cruise. The East China Sea fishery island issue, also through normalized patrol to safeguard rights and interests. The U.S. think tank reports now often say that China's rise has changed the global pattern, and that explosion is one of the turning points.

There is also an unsolved case. In 2009, former U.S. lieutenant colonel William Bennett was killed in Virginia. He worked in the CIA and was suspected of providing information about the bombing of the museum. The case was taken over by the FBI and the CIA, and it hasn't been closed yet. The media speculated that he had something to do with what happened in 1999, but the conclusion was inconclusive.

This side reflects that there was controversy within the United States about the operation. Clinton mentioned in the autobiography that the bombing was an intelligence error, but also admitted that it was a political setback.

Today, China-U.S. relations are complicated, and the United States pushes the "Indo-Pacific strategy" to encircle China, but China's economy is second in the world, and military power is at the forefront of the world.In 2024, some reports said that the United States reflected on the events of 1999, and felt that the "misbombing" accelerated China's military awakening.

Now that China has the capacity to cope with similar provocations, the United States has to deal with them.As in the South China Sea collision in 2023, Chinese ships respond directly and do not harm.This change makes the United States understand that the silence 25 years ago is waiting for power to speak.

The game between countries depends on strength. China didn't do it in 1999, avoiding short-term losses and focusing on development instead. Now the United States understands that it is a wise choice to stand still.

The international landscape will change in the future, but staying awake and continuing to progress is the right way.I hope that such events do not happen again, and everyone will solve the problem through dialogue.