US fighter jets dropped five bombs on the Chinese Embassy compound in the Serbian capital on May 7, 1999, triggering a fire and killing three Chinese citizens. Twenty others were injured. Xi Jinping referred to the attack in an opinion piece published in the Serbian daily Politika on Tuesday, saying that NATO’s “brazen bombing” should not be forgotten, according to a translation carried by Chinese state media and cited by The Associated Press. “The Chinese people cherish peace, but will never allow historical tragedies to happen again,” Xi added. The Western military alliance launched the air war in March that year to force then-Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic to end a brutal crackdown on ethnic Albanian rebels in Kosovo. The U.S. apologized at the time, saying the embassy bombing was a mistake that resulted from faulty intelligence. The intended target, Washington said, was the headquarters of a Serbian state-run arms exporter located down the street and several blocks away. “Imagine if somebody, even by accident, would hit an American embassy somewhere in the world. The outcry would be immediate,” said Sven Biscop, a professor of European security and foreign policy at Ghent University and the Egmont Institute. Furious demonstrators in China attacked U.S. diplomatic missions, while the bombing fueled anti-American sentiment and speculation that the attack was deliberate, not accidental. Mistrust over the incident lingers to this day. While damaging Beijing’s relations with the U.S., the embassy bombing drew China and Serbia closer together. China has emerged as Serbia’s biggest source of foreign direct investment and its second-largest trading partner behind the European Union. Beijing opposed NATO’s bombing campaign and has since backed Belgrade’s efforts to resist Western-backed pressure for Kosovo, a former Serbian province, to become independent. In return, Serbia has been a steadfast ally of Beijing and has opened its doors to billions of dollars in Chinese investment even as it formally seeks to join the EU. “The friendship forged in blood between the peoples of China and Serbia has become the common memory of the two peoples and will inspire both sides to move forward together,” said Xi, who wants to “open a new chapter in national development and rejuvenation and build a China-Serbia community with a shared future for mankind in the new era.” Signs of pro-China sentiment were evident as Xi arrived in Serbia. In Belgrade, a giant Chinese flag was draped over a skyscraper along a highway leading from the airport to the city. Smaller Chinese and Serbian flags could be seen in the city center and along a major highway. Serbian Air Force MiG-29 jets escorted Xi’s plane as it landed at Belgrade’s airport. Xi arrived from France and will later travel to Hungary as part of his first trip to Europe in five years. The Chinese leader is expected to visit the site of the former embassy and pay tribute to the victims of the attack. Read Also: Macron abordou direitos humanos com Xi Jinping (Portuguese version)