U.S. embassy in Beijing besieged by protesters

U.S. embassy in Beijing besieged by protesters

BEIJING (AP): Throwing rocks and paint, thousands of angry protesters besieged the U.S. Embassy in Beijing on Sunday for a second day of noisy demonstrations against NATO's bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Yugoslavia.

Many Beijing demonstrators wore black armbands and waved newspaper photos of three Chinese journalists killed when NATO missiles struck the Chinese embassy in Belgrade on Saturday. More than 20 were injured, six seriously, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said.

Wave after wave of Chinese shouting "Down with the United States" marched past the embassy in the biggest public protest since the Tiananmen Square pro-democracy demonstrations 10 years ago. Protests also took place in Shanghai, Guangzhou, Xi'an and other cities.

In Chengdu, a city in southwestern China, the U.S. consul's residence was badly damaged by fire and windows were broken on Saturday, but no Americans were injured, U.S. Embassy spokesman Tom Cooney said on Sunday.

Police broke up the Chengdu protest with tear gas, and the small number of staff members and their families moved to another part of the city, the spokesman said.

In Beijing, thousands of demonstrators marched in an all-day procession past the gates of the U.S. Embassy compound. Many threw chunks of pavement and burning newspaper at the buildings. They shouted "Down with American imperialists," "Severely punish the killers," "Break up NATO," and other slogans.

Protesters burned a mock U.S. flag with a Nazi swastika on it, and many other signs and banners equated NATO and U.S. President Bill Clinton with Nazis.

U.S. officials protested to the Chinese government and appealed for better security, Cooney said. He added: "If we don't get more security the situation could slip out of control."

The communist government generally bans protests for fear they will escalate into unrest. But officials apparently felt that stopping people from publicly expressing outrage over the embassy bombing could further inflame them and possibly turn emotions against the government.

Chinese Vice President Hu Jintao appealed for restraint in a nationwide television broadcast Sunday evening. He said the government supports "legal protest activities," but warned people to be vigilant against trouble-makers.

Hu said the protests reflected "the Chinese people's strong indignation" and patriotism. But, he added, "We must prevent the occurrence of extreme acts."

Hu also said foreign diplomatic missions and foreign nationals in China would be protected.

U.S. Ambassador James Sasser and his staff expressed "profound sorrow" over the bombing in Belgrade and condolences to families of the victims, an embassy statement said.

Neither the statement nor President Clinton's expression of regret over what he called a tragic mistake were reported by China's state-controlled news media.

Meanwhile, a 34-member delegation from the Chinese Foreign Ministry arrived in Belgrade on Sunday to assess damage caused by NATO's bombing of the Chinese embassy, return the injured to Beijing and help get the embassy functioning again.