Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Beijing cannot accept any country acting as the “world’s judge” after the United States captured Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro.
The world’s second-largest economy has provided Venezuela with an economic lifeline since the U.S. and its allies ramped up sanctions in 2017, purchasing roughly $1.6 billion worth of goods in 2024, the most recent full-year data available.
Almost half of China’s purchases were crude oil, customs data shows, while its state-owned oil giants had invested around $4.6 billion in Venezuela by 2018, according to data from the American Enterprise Institute think tank, which tracks Chinese overseas corporate investment.
I think the fact that the US invaded Venezuela and kidnapped its leader disproves your last statement. Conditions in Venezuela have actually been improving because of their connections to China. The sanctions were becoming far less effective.
I think that’s what you’re not realizing. The US has given up on soft power because it is losing to China in that. It has moved on to hard power because it can not able to compete with Chinese soft power.