Hello and welcome to the witness history podcast from the BBC World Service, with me, Ben Henderson.

It's May 1999, and NATO, the military alliance of North American and European countries,

has been bombing Yugoslavia for six weeks during the Kosovo war.

Their aim was to bring an end to the atrocities committed by Yugoslavia's military,

under President Slobodan Milosevic against ethnic Albanians in Kosovo.

But on the 7th of May, close to midnight, American stealth warplanes were in the dark skies above Yugoslavia's capital, Belgrade.

They put five bombs onto the Chinese embassy, destroying the building, and seriously damaging the relationship between China and the West.

I've been speaking to Hong Shen, a Chinese businessman, who was one of the first on the scene.

I went in there into the MC courtyard to check if there's anyone there,

and I saw a cultural attaché who I knew of, and I went up to him and shook his hand.

But instantly I feared there's something wet and gluey on my hand.

So I said, no, you're injured, and he took one look at his hand, and instantly he passed out.

So before the war, Belgrade was a very tranquil city, with a laid-back atmosphere.

Compared to Shanghai, where I was born, it was much quieter.

But that tranquility was about to be shattered.

For 11 weeks, this country has been convulsed by the law.

No one here dreamt this would ever happen to them, and cut off by their government from reality, they couldn't understand why it had.

So you are bombing the people. The point here is that NATO is not bombing Milosewits for God's sake.

If you want to change president, no problem. I first will be in the city of Belgrade.

But you are not changing our president. You are just changing the mind of people, and everyone now hates you.

Now we are thinking how our children and our people are dying.

The day after day, you could hear the bombing in the city.

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