Chinese Father Documents Life With Son Every Year of His Life for 3 Decades

1999

At age 13, Li is now visibly a teenager in 1999. This is the same year that the U.S. bombed the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. The U.S. has claimed the attack was an accident and that their intended target was actually the nearby Yugoslav Federal Directorate, but several Chinese officials believe that the attack was deliberate. The government issued a statement the same day as the bombing calling it a “barbarian act.” This sparked a series of anti-American protests in China, with protesters throwing rocks outside the United States embassy in Beijing. President Clinton profusely apologized, and gradually relations improved throughout the year.