UNS and ACJA commemorate fellow journalists

BELGRADE - President of the Journalists Association of Serbia (UNS) Ljiljana Smajlovic and officials of the All-China Journalists Association (ACJA) laid wreaths on Wednesday at the site of the former Chinese embassy in Belgrade, which was destroyed in NATO's bombing campaign against Yugoslavia in 1999, killing three Chinese journalists.

ACJA officials arrived in Serbia on Wednesday and will stay until October 25 as guests of the UNS, with whom they have had relations since 1965.

Immediately upon arrival in Belgrade, the ACJA and UNS delegations commemorated their fallen colleagues at the site of the former Chinese embassy.

The embassy was hit at 11:45 p.m. on May 7, during NATO's bombing campaign against FR Yugoslavia.

Xu Xinghuand, Zhu Ying and Shao Yunhuan died in the attack.

The south part of the embassy was hit by two missiles, one struck the top floor, while the other landed on the ground floor. The third missile went through the ground floor and into the basement of the west wing of the building, which was clearly marked as a diplomatic facility.

A few other buildings inside the compound were also destroyed, along with some parked vehicles. Nearby buildings, especially the Energoprojekt buildings and YU Business Centre, were also damaged.

Photo Tanjug, N. Milosevic (archive)