On May 7, 1999, NATO bombs rocked the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, killing three Chinese citizens. NATO apologized afterward, saying the bombing was a mistake due to outdated information provided by the CIA. The incident sparked outrage throughout China and NATO's reason for the bombings were seen as excuses to cover up for the deliberate attack in China's eyes. Demonstrations outside the US embassy in China ensued, and tensions remained until the end of 1999 when a diplomatic conclusion had been reached.
This created political tensions between the US and China, with the US accusing China of taking advantage of the opportunity to incite political animosity towards the US. The US claimed that it was all because of multiple miscommunications and errors that had resulted in the accidental bombings, while the Chinese government declared that it was intentional. Fortunately, the impact was not long-lasting as relations began to pick up towards the end of 1999.
It may be of interest that China seemed to have used the bombings as an excuse to direct a political attack on the US. But why would they do such a thing? This can indeed be attributed to their culture of being heavily influenced by world powers, most notably the US. It was this trait of the Chinese that had elicited mass demonstrations after the incident, and also perhaps contributed in the Chinese government's decision to classify the incident as deliberate so rashly. On the other hand, the bombing of the embassy could just be a mistake on the part of NATO. The West would not have wanted a World War at that time, seeing how important the economic boom of China is to world trade. The industrious nature of the West makes it extremely unlikely that they would suddenly want to start a war with the Global Factory.