Protests outside the US Embassy in Beijing caused US Ambassador James Sasser to become a virtual prisoner in the embassy building for four days. The protestors, officially allowed to gather by a government that prima facie bans public protests, threw rocks and bottles at the embassy building, breaking its windows and making the already ugly compound even less picturesque. Although frightened that the crowds would at any minute decide to storm the embassy, he remained hopeful about the overall perspective of US-China relations. "I think wiser heads will prevail on both sides, and both sides will move forward and continue to build a partnership," he said in an interview conducted during the siege. The protests ended, rather too suddenly to be uncoordinated, and Sasser was able to leave the building. But the pressure from the Chinese government remains, and a new strain has been added to the already tense talks on arms control, trade barriers, and human rights.
Even before the bombing incident, relations with China were tense over Kosovo (in addition to those other issues). China is particularly worried about America flexing its muscles in a disputed province against purported tyranny. If America can militarily intervene in a sovereign country to defend a minority from its government, what will stop the US from intervening in, say, Taiwan if it becomes Chinese territory? Why wouldn't America intervene to prevent Taiwan from reverting to China in the first place?
