THE POPULATION of Serbia is less than one-third of Beijing’s. China’s trade with the Balkan country is less than one-fortieth of that with Germany. Yet for China’s ruler, Xi Jinping, Serbia is important. It is a rare close friend on a continent where wariness of China has become the norm. And the country’s capital, Belgrade, witnessed a seminal moment in the evolution of Chinese nationalism. Twenty-five years ago American bombs hit the Chinese embassy there, killing three people. On his first visit to Europe since 2019 Mr Xi held talks with Emmanuel Macron, the president of France, hoping to persuade him and his allies that China and its products are good for them. Then, in Serbia, Mr Xi used the anniversary of the bombing to make a thinly veiled point: that the Western-led order is bad and must be changed.
The Economist
