China made no public commitment to aid or other material support for longtime partner Venezuela after a recent call between the respective foreign ministers, expressing only verbal support for Caracas in a readout of the conversation, as the U.S. military blockades the South American country’s sanctioned oil tankers in an escalating clash over drug cartels.
Beijing is balancing its relations with the socialist Maduro regime in Caracas and its own ambitions in Latin America against its need to maintain a stable situation with the Trump administration, after months of damaging volatility with Washington over trade, particularly on tariffs, rare earths, advanced chips, and China’s role in fentanyl production.
The Chinese foreign ministry said Wang Yi told the Venezuelan foreign minister Yvan Gil in a call on Wednesday that the two countries are “strategic partners” and that Beijing “opposes all forms of unilateral bullying and supports countries in defending their own sovereignty and national dignity.”
“Venezuela has the right to independently pursue mutually beneficial cooperation with other countries, and China believes that the international community understands and supports Venezuela’s position in safeguarding its legitimate rights and interests,” the readout said, originally in Chinese.
It made no direct mention of the U.S. or the Trump administration, whose blockade of Venezuela forces a choice on China: maintain its newly stable relations with the White House but weaken its standing among strategic partners by not offering aid to Venezuela in the showdown, or help prop up the Maduro regime and risk reigniting the economic war with Washington.
China has extended tens of billions of dollars in loans to Venezuela over the years, repaid by Caracas largely through oil shipments.
This is a developing article. Updates to follow.
