'US strike in Venezuela comes as big setback for China’s geopolitical ambitions'

New Delhi, Jan 7
The US strike in Venezuela and the capture of the country’s President, Nicolás Maduro, also comes as a big setback to China, at a time when the Asian giant was expanding its influence in Latin America, according to media reports.

An ABC News report states that the US attack was launched just hours after Venezuelan President Maduro met a special Chinese delegation, and the timing does not seem to be a coincidence.

Indicating that apart from its other goals, the US has also sent a clear message to China to stay away from the Western Hemisphere, which Washington considers its backyard.

The report highlights that for months, the US and President Donald Trump have been sounding warnings about the increasing ties of Latin America with Beijing and trying to effect a diplomatic recalibration. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has also stated that one of the goals of the intervention was to curb investment from US adversaries — including China — in Venezuela's oil industry.

China is the biggest buyer of Venezuela's oil, accounting for as much as 80 per cent of the Latin American country's export.

The ABC report further states that China has also displaced Washington as the biggest trading partner in other Latin American countries, such as Brazil, Chile, and Peru, in recent years. It is even the second-largest trading partner with one of the US's closest allies in the region, neighbouring Mexico. Besides, the Communist country has investments in at least a dozen major ports in the region, including a big port in Peru and a space-tracking station in Bolivia.

Apart from the economic links, China has also strengthened its relations with the sale of military hardware, including fighter jets to countries such as Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia and Argentina, the report pointed out.

"If you look specifically at Venezuela, China has emerged as the country's number one oil importer and in return has poured tens of billions of dollars into oil-for-loans deals — mainly for energy and infrastructure, filling critical voids and increasing reliance on Beijing," the report observed.

The article also cites a recent Chinese government policy paper on Latin America and the Caribbean, which mentions how a "significant shift is taking place in the international balance of power" with reference to the US.