China has taken an evasive stance towards former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic’s extradition to the Hague Tribunal. At a briefing which took place on July 3d in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Minister spokeswoman Zhang Qiyoue kept cool while touching upon this burning issue. She confined herself to wishing the Hague Tribunal that it would judge “fairly,” “without external interference.” She also express hope that “stability will prevail” in Yugoslavia and the “international engagement will contribute to it.”
The Chinese media also seems to be indifferent to Mr. Milosevic’s fate. Interestingly, China was among those who denounced Nato bombardments of Yugoslavia most bitterly (remember that the Chinese embassy in Belgrade was hit then). That time, Jiang Zemin, the chairman of the Chinese Communist Party, spoke to Russia’s President Boris Yeltsin by phone saying that the “Nato bloc, mocking the weak, has showed the world the true nature of hegemonism and a use-of-force policy, and also the hypocrisy of the “humanitarian interference” and that the “block has lost the war politically and morally.” Does the indifference to the Hague Tribunal mean that that China has given up interest to the Balkan region? Quite the contrary.
The point is that China has made the best use of its embassy’s bombardment, both economic and political. But now, after a US spy plane scandal, China seems unwilling to do things that could anger Washington. Besides, China’s line towards the Balkans is closely related to the Taiwan problem which is so vital for Beijing. Macedonia has just distanced itself from Taiwan, having preferred China’s friendship. Now, China is interested in having Serbia within its influence.
ANDREI KRUSHINSKI
PRAVDA.Ru
BEIJING
Miroslav Antic,
http://www.antic.org/
