Trump upends China–Venezuela relationship before Maduro raid

(MENAFN) Donald Trump’s recent US operation in Venezuela has quickly upended a relationship China had cultivated with Caracas for decades. Just hours before his capture in a nighttime raid, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro had praised Chinese President Xi Jinping as “an older brother” and described him as sending “a powerful message as a leader to the world” while meeting with senior diplomats from Beijing.

China has long invested heavily in Venezuela, one of its closest South American partners.

Photographs from that meeting highlighted the cordial relations, showing officials reviewing hundreds of existing agreements. But the next images of Maduro were strikingly different: he was on a US warship, blindfolded and handcuffed, wearing grey sweats.

China joined other nations in condemning the US action, accusing Washington of acting like a “world judge” and insisting that “the sovereignty and security of all countries should be fully protected under international law.”

Beyond these statements, Beijing must now carefully consider how to maintain its influence in South America while navigating an already complex relationship with the US, and planning its next steps amid the intensifying strategic competition between Washington and Beijing.

Some view the situation as an opportunity for China’s Communist Party leaders, but there is also significant risk and uncertainty as they adapt to Trump’s unconventional approach to global politics. Having previously managed trade tensions and other crises, China’s leadership is accustomed to long-term planning, but the raid represents a sudden and chaotic disruption to the international norms it has relied on for decades.

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