“We have never believed that any country can act as the world’s police,” says Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi attends the ASEAN post-ministerial meeting with China at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Center in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia July 10, 2025. Source: Reuters
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Beijing cannot accept any country acting as the “judge of the world” following the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro by the United States.
“We have never believed that any country can act as the world’s police, nor do we accept that any nation can claim to be the judge of the world,” Wang told his Pakistani counterpart Ishaq Dar during a meeting in Beijing on Sunday, referring to the “sudden developments in Venezuela” without directly mentioning the US.
“The sovereignty and security of all countries should be fully protected in accordance with international law,” added China’s top diplomat, in his first remarks since images of Maduro, 63, blindfolded and handcuffed on Saturday stunned Venezuelans.
Maduro is in a New York detention center awaiting a court appearance Monday on drug charges.
Beijing aspires to become a diplomatic heavyweight, a goal it made more clear after brokering a surprise rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran in 2023, pledging to “play a constructive role in global hotspot issues.” Analysts say Beijing’s success in engaging the US in trade negotiations has only boosted China’s confidence.
But President Donald Trump’s assertion that the US will oversee Venezuela’s government for the time being poses a severe test of the “all-time comprehensive strategic partnership” that Beijing and Caracas struck in 2023, marking nearly 50 years of diplomatic ties.
“It was a big blow to China. We wanted to be seen as a reliable friend of Venezuela,” said a Chinese government official briefed on the meeting between Maduro and China’s special representative for Latin American and Caribbean affairs, Qiu Xiaoqi, hours before his arrest.
Maduro’s son visited China’s top Peking University in 2024, where he enrolled in 2016, they said, adding they were unsure if he would return despite years of diplomatic engagement with Caracas over his education and ties to China.
The world’s second-largest economy has offered Venezuela a financial lifeline since the U.S. and its allies stepped up sanctions in 2017, buying about $1.6 billion worth of goods in 2024, the most recent full-year figures available.
Nearly half of China’s purchases were crude oil, customs data show, while its state oil giants had invested about $4.6 billion in Venezuela through 2018, according to data from the American Enterprise Institute think tank, which tracks Chinese overseas corporate investment.
a href=”https://tribune.com.pk/story/2585553/china-condemns-us-capture-of-maduro-says-countries-cannot-act-as-world-judge”>Source link
