BEIJING: Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has said that Beijing cannot accept any country acting as the “world’s judge” after the United States captured Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro.
“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 world’s judge,” Wang told his Pakistani counterpart Ishaq Dar during a meeting in Beijing on Sunday, according to Reuters.
He referred to “sudden developments in Venezuela” without directly mentioning the U.S.
“The sovereignty and security of all countries should be fully protected under international law,” China’s top diplomat added, marking his first public comments since images of the 63-year-old Maduro blindfolded and handcuffed on Saturday shocked Venezuelans.
Maduro is currently in a New York detention centre awaiting a Monday court appearance on drug-related charges.
Beijing has ambitions to become a diplomatic heavyweight, a goal it articulated most clearly after brokering a surprise rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran in 2023, pledging to “play a constructive role in global hotspot issues.”
Analysts say China’s success in standing up to the U.S. in trade negotiations has bolstered Beijing’s confidence.
However, President Donald Trump’s assertion that the U.S. will oversee Venezuela’s government temporarily presents a test to the “all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership” that China and Caracas forged in 2023, marking almost 50 years of diplomatic relations.
“It was a big blow to China. We wanted to look like a dependable friend to Venezuela,” said a Chinese government official briefed on a meeting between Maduro and China’s special representative for Latin American and Caribbean affairs, Qiu Xiaoqi, just hours before Maduro’s capture.
Maduro’s son also visited China’s Peking University in 2024, where he had enrolled in 2016. Officials said it remains uncertain whether he will return to Venezuela despite years of diplomatic engagement over his education and China’s close ties with Caracas.
China, the world’s second-largest economy, has provided Venezuela with an economic lifeline since the U.S. and its allies intensified sanctions in 2017.
In 2024, China purchased roughly $1.6 billion worth of Venezuelan goods, with nearly half consisting of crude oil. State-owned Chinese oil companies had invested approximately $4.6 billion in Venezuela by 2018, according to data from the American Enterprise Institute, which tracks Chinese overseas corporate investments.
