(Bloomberg) — China said it’s “deeply shocked” by the US’s military strikes on Venezuela and its capture of President Nicolas Maduro.
China “strongly condemns the US’s blatant use of force against a sovereign state and action against its president,” a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said in a statement late Saturday. “Such hegemonic acts of the US seriously violate international law and Venezuela’s sovereignty, and threaten peace and security in Latin America and the Caribbean region. China firmly opposes it.”
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China — the biggest buyer of oil from the South American country, as well as its largest creditor — is the latest in a string of global leftist nations including Brazil, Russia, Colombia, Mexico and Cuba that have denounced the US military action against Venezuela. In the run-up to Saturday’s strike, Beijing had offered its support to the Maduro regime following months of growing pressure from the Trump administration.
“We call on the US to abide by international law and the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, and stop violating other countries’ sovereignty and security,” the ministry in Beijing said.
On Friday, Maduro received a high-level Chinese delegation in Caracas on Friday, including Special Representative of the Chinese Government on Latin American Affairs Qiu Xiaoqi — one of the Venezuelan leader’s last publicly known meetings before the US strikes and his capture. It is unclear if the diplomats remained in the country by the time of the attack.
Earlier Saturday, China’s Foreign Ministry and the Chinese Embassy in Venezuela advised citizens to temporarily avoid traveling to the South American nation, according to a post on Wechat.
Last month, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his Venezuelan counterpart Yvan Gil that Beijing opposes “unilateral bullying” and supports all countries in safeguarding their sovereignty and national dignity. While Wang did not name the US directly, the remarks came after President Donald Trump ordered a blockade of sanctioned oil tankers going in and out of Venezuela.
Wang said then that Venezuela has the right to develop mutually beneficial cooperation with other countries, and that China believes the international community supports Venezuela’s position.
Chinese refiners are the biggest buyers of Venezuelan crude. Officially, China hasn’t taken the South American country’s crude since March, but third-party and ship-tracking data indicate flows to the Asian nation remained robust last year.
