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.