On the night of May 7–8, the strike was carried out by bombers of the 

United States Air

Force's 509th Bomb Wing flying directly out of Whiteman AFB, Missouri. The bombers were armed
with JDAM GPS-guided precision bombs, but the geographic coordinates provided by the CIA and
programmed into the bombs were those of the Chinese embassy 440 m (480 yd) away. At around
midnight local time, five bombs landed at the location indicated, striking the south end of the
embassy almost simultaneously. The embassy had taken precautionary measures in view of the
ongoing bombing campaign, sending staff home and housing others in the basement, [6] but the attack
still resulted in three fatalities, Shao Yunhuan (邵云环) who worked for the Xinhua News Agency, Xu
Xinghu (许杏虎) and his wife Zhu Ying (朱颖) who worked for Guangming Daily, as well as 27 people
injured.[7][8]

Chinese reaction[edit]

On May 12, to mourn the deaths of the bombing victims, American flags were ordered to be lowered to half-
staff at U.S. diplomatic missions in mainland China and HKSAR. The photo above shows the lowered American
flag at the American consulate in Hong Kong. [9] "The lives of those killed and injured was secondary to the
escalating tensions between the two powers," states a study of the diplomatic exchanges surrounding the
affair. "US officials to the families of the deceased were only incidental and, at best, pro-forma." [10]

An anti-American Protest in Nanjing

The raid caused a dramatic rise in tension between China and the United States. An official
statement on Chinese television denounced what it called a "barbaric attack and a gross violation of
Chinese sovereignty".[11] China's ambassador to the UN described what he called "NATO's barbarian
act" as "a gross violation of the United Nations charter, international law and the norms governing
international relations" and "a violation of the Geneva convention". [12]
Large demonstrations erupted at consular offices of the United States and other NATO countries in
China in reaction to news of the bombing. On May 9, 1999, then vice-president Hu Jintao delivered a
national televised speech condemning the "barbaric" and "criminal conduct" of NATO, which "incited
the fury of the Chinese people." [13] He said the unauthorized demonstrations in Beijing, Shanghai,
Guangzhou, Chengdu and Shenyang reflected the anger and patriotism of the Chinese people, and
which the Chinese government fully supported, but urged against extreme and illegal conduct. [13][14]
The protests continued for several days, during which tens of thousands of rock-throwing protesters
kept US Ambassador James Sasser and other staff trapped in the Beijing embassy.[8] The residence
of the US Consul in Chengdu was damaged by fire and protestors tried to burn the consulate in
Guangzhou. There were no reported injuries.[14]
President Clinton's apologies and those of the US State Department were not initially broadcast by
Chinese state-run media outlets. The demonstrations continued for four days before the Chinese
government called a halt, eventually broadcasting President Clinton's apology on television and
ordering the police to restrain the demonstrators.[15]
For a week, President Jiang Zemin declined phone calls from President Bill Clinton, eventually
accepting a 30-minute apology call on Friday, May 14,[8] in which Clinton expressed "regret" over the
incident.[16] Jiang had chosen to leave US-China leadership communications channels unused as he
waited for the Politburo Standing Committee to reach a consensus. [17] The time it took for the
Politburo to gather necessary information and reach a decision about China's responses motivated
Party leadership to revisit a proposal to establish a centralized National Security Commission,
although this was ultimately not implemented at the time. [18]