In Serbia, Xi highlights his close ties with an ally who shares his distrust of the United States

China and Serbia proclaimed an ironclad friendship Wednesday during a visit to Belgrade by Chinese President Xi Jinping, underscoring the close political and economic ties between two countries that share a distrust of the United States.

Xi arrived in Serbia on Tuesday evening, marking the 25th anniversary of a mistaken 1999 airstrike involving the US Air Force during the Kosovo War that destroyed the Chinese embassy in Belgrade , the Serbian capital. Three Chinese journalists were killed in this strike.

Xi appeared briefly Wednesday morning with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic before an enthusiastic crowd gathered in front of the Palace of Serbia, the former seat of Yugoslavia's now-defunct government that now houses Serbian government offices.

The ironclad friendship between China and Serbia has withstood the test of international storms and tribulations, Xi told Vucic in a meeting, according to a statement. Xinhua account, Chinese official news agency. It rests on a deep historical foundation, a solid political basis, very varied common interests and a solid base in public opinion.

Unlike Mr. Xi's last visit to central and eastern Europe in 2016, during which he faced noisy protests in the Czech Republic, he received a uniformly friendly reception in Belgrade, with authorities reportedly arresting protesters potential and mobilized state agents to acclaim him. .

Sara Markovic, a Belgrade resident, told N1, an independent television channel, that her father, a Chinese practitioner who banned the spiritual movement Falun Gong, and several other followers of what Beijing calls an evil sect, had been arrested before Mr. Xi. visit. Efforts to contact Serbian police to confirm the information were unsuccessful.

China is the largest foreign investor in Serbia and increasingly close economic ties have helped develop a relationship forged before the collapse of Yugoslavia, whose capital was Belgrade, in the early 1990s due to a shared distrust of Western and Soviet powers.

The 25th anniversary of the NATO bombings comes at a time when Mr. Xi's government is trying to stabilize relations with the United States and Western Europe. He was supposed to go to the site of the bombed embassy, ​​usually a mandatory stop for Chinese officials visiting Belgrade, but had not yet arrived there by late afternoon. Xi visited the site, redeveloped into a Chinese cultural center, during his last trip to Serbia in 2016.

We should never forget it, Xi said in a press release published Tuesday by Politika, a Serbian newspaper, recalling that 25 years ago today, NATO blatantly bombed the Chinese embassy. He said China's friendship with Serbia was forged with the blood of our compatriots and will remain in the common memory of the Chinese and Serbian people.

Beijing's underlying suspicions about Western intentions and NATO's role persist, a point that has surfaced in Chinese official and media comments about the anniversary. But Mr. Xi refrained from the outrage expressed in Beijing by the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

The Chinese people will never forget this barbaric atrocity committed by NATO and will never accept such a tragic history repeating itself, said Lin Jian, a spokesperson for the ministry. told reporters in Beijing Tuesday.

Serbia, which still harbors deep grievances over the defeat of Christian Serbs by Ottoman Turks in a battle in 1389, shares with China a view of itself as a righteous force wronged by hostile foreigners.

Serbia and China are also linked by mutual support for their respective territorial claims: China on the breakaway island of Taiwan and Serbia on Kosovo, a former Serbian land which declared an independent state after the bombing campaign of NATO.

Just as we have clear positions on the issue of Chinese integrity, that Taiwan is China, so they support Serbian territory without any reservations, Vucic, who was Serbian Information Minister under the President Slobodan Milosevic during the Kosovo War.

China, Xi said, supports Serbia's efforts to preserve its territorial integrity regarding Kosovo.

Public opinion has deteriorated significantly toward China in much of Europe, particularly in formerly communist countries in the East, because of the war in Ukraine. But Serbia, which like China has close ties to Russia, has remained solidly pro-China and still looks to China for billions of dollars in investment.

But like almost all European countries, Serbia has a growing trade deficit with China, a gap that Mr. Vucic hopes can be reduced through a new free trade agreement that he says would allow Serbia to export 95 percent of its customs duties. free. Even though Serbia has few of the products China needs, Vucic said Serbian farmers would benefit from new Chinese contracts for plums, prunes and blueberries.

Mr. Vucic was one of only two European leaders, along with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who attended a rally in Beijing in October to celebrate Mr. Xi's Belt and Road infrastructure program. Russian President Vladimir V. Putin and dozens of other foreign leaders also attended. Mr. Xi will then visit Hungary.

Belgrade was adorned with Chinese flags and billboards paying tribute to its beloved Chinese friends. Crowds filled the streets to welcome the Chinese leader, an outpouring of affection that opposition politicians said had been artificially manufactured by authorities, who they said had ordered street cleaners and other officials to take time off work and encourage Mr. Xi.

Serbia's state broadcaster even cut broadcasts of the Eurovision Song Contest, a hugely popular event watched by millions across Europe, to make way for coverage of a welcoming ceremony for M . Xi at Belgrade airport.

Chris Buckley contributed reporting from Taipei, Taiwan and Alisa Dogradzieva from Belgrade, Serbia.