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RELATED VIDEO CNN's Rebecca MacKinnon reports on clashes outside the U.S. Embassy in Beijing (May 8) Windows Media 28K 80K  ALSO: Chinese, Russians condemn embassy attack, call for bombing halt POWs beaten, shackled in Yugoslavia, military says Russian diplomatic visit to Britain canceled

May 8, 1999
Web posted at: 10:12 a.m. EDT (1412 GMT)

BEIJING (CNN) -- Hundreds of protesters clashed with police at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing Saturday, smashing cars and windows and burning American flags to protest the NATO bombing of China's embassy in Belgrade, Yugoslavia.

The protesters pushed toward the embassy, demanding to be let in and calling U.S. President Bill Clinton obscene names, CNN's Beijing Bureau Chief Rebecca MacKinnon said.

Police pushed back demonstrators who tried to ram a van and hurl a burning American flag through the embassy gate. Protesters used pieces of concrete that had been left in piles by workers rebuilding sidewalks to break many of the windows in U.S. Embassy buildings.

A group of protesters tried to flip a car and started shoving police who stopped them. Several cars were smashed with chunks of concrete.

The demonstrations were more peaceful earlier Saturday, when hundreds of students arrived at the embassy with banners. Those students, MacKinnon said, were mostly gone when the more violent protests began.

The Foreign Ministry, meanwhile, summoned U.S. Ambassador James Sasser and lodged the "strongest protest," the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported.

Earlier, police in large numbers watched but let the students march in front of the embassy in well-ordered ranks. The students represented at least five universities.

Some of the protesters sang the Chinese national anthem, and others shouted "Protect sovereignty, protect peace" and "We don't want war." Signs hung on a bus that brought students to the embassy said "NATO Nazis."

The protest was highly unusual for China, where authorities generally have banned any large gatherings or demonstrations for fear of unrest. But the students and government this time were in accord. The Chinese government has strongly opposed the NATO air strikes in Yugoslavia since they started.

At least three people were killed and more than 20 were injured when NATO missiles struck the embassy in Belgrade, the state-run Xinhua News Agency said. One person was missing. A Xinhua reporter, Shao Yunhuan, was among the dead, it said. NATO said it did not intentionally target the embassy.

In a statement, China's government said U.S.-led NATO fired three missiles from different angles at its Belgrade embassy, in "a gross violation of Chinese sovereignty."

"The Chinese government and people express their utmost indignation and severe condemnation of the barbarian act and lodge the strongest protest," said the statement reported by Xinhua and broadcast on nationwide television.

"U.S.-led NATO should bear all responsibilities," it said. Beijing said it reserved the right to take further action over the embassy bombing but gave no details. China called an emergency meeting of the Security Council on Saturday to condemn the attack. It wanted the United Nations to investigate the bombing and for NATO to provide an explanation.

The U.S. Embassy in Beijing advised staff and Americans living in the Chinese capital "to raise their security awareness," said spokesman Bill Palmer.

An embassy notice said there was "the possibility for acts of retaliation against Americans and American interests worldwide."

The bombing also angered Chinese who were not among the student protesters.

Some expressed anger toward U.S. President Clinton and said NATO and the United States should not be involved in Yugoslavia.

China has been outspoken in its criticism of the NATO campaign, accusing NATO of killing innocent civilians and repeatedly demanding that the alliance immediately stop bombing.

Chinese news media, all controlled by the government, have reported virtually none of the Serbian attacks on ethnic Albanians in Kosovo.

In Beijing, Yugoslav Ambassador Slobodan Unkovic expressed condolences for the death of the Xinhua correspondent and thanked China for its diplomatic support, Xinhua reported.

With restive ethnic regions of their own, Chinese leaders fear that NATO has set a dangerous precedent by attacking a sovereign nation without U.N. authorization.

In Hong Kong, about 30 protesters marched to the U.S. and British Consulates carrying signs that said "NATO: Stop Bombing, Stop Crime." The protests were organized by the pro-Beijing Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong.

Beijing Bureau Chief Rebecca MacKinnon, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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