Students recall Chinese fury over NATO bombing
Deseret News 4Jun99 C4
By Jeffrey P. Haney: Deseret News staff writer

OREM, UTAH -- A group of 11 students from BYU, Utah Valley State College and the University of Utah returned last week from a four-week trip to China, reporting on the reaction of the Chinese to the accidental NATO bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade, Serbia. In the days following the bombing, the group was approached on the streets by furious Chinese who demanded to know why the bombing happened.

One of the group, John Tippetts, is a returned missionary from Taiwan, and was able to deflect some of the criticism simply because he could speak the language. He says that the Chinese often warmed to the group when they communicated with them in Chinese. "When people would say things to me, they would say them in Chinese. When I started talking back, they would stand back."

The political situation has forced UVSC to scale back its program with a Chinese school. Its international studies director, Boyd Bauer, who accompanied the group, explains, "There was tremendous anger. They were taking it very personally." The bombing essentially turned a major event into a non-event, according to Bauer.