Shared Victimhood: The Reporting by the Chinese Newspaper the People’s Daily on the 1999 NATO Bombing of Yugoslavia

Abstract

Abstract This article examines the reporting by China’s most important newspaper, People’s Daily, on the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia. The 1999 intervention was significant in China, as its embassy in Belgrade was bombed. The author looks at the newspaper’s bombardment-related reports of and commentaries on Yugoslavia, NATO, Russia, and China, as well as other countries, and its reporting on the embassy bombing itself. The author shows that there was clear sympathy for Yugoslavia and “the Yugoslav people”, a term used synonymously with Serbs. The 1999 conflict was portrayed as a struggle between good (peace and independence) and evil (hegemonism and power politics). Contrary to most Western societies, the image of Yugoslavia/Serbia in China was largely positive. This image informed the build-up of a narrative of a shared victimhood between China and Yugoslavia/Serbia, which has remained a topos in their bilateral relations until today.