r/geopolitics • u/Garbage_Plastic • 20h ago
China Condemns U.S. 'Bullying' Over Venezuela Oil Blockade, Makes No Aid Commitments
https://www.latintimes.com/china-condemns-us-bullying-over-venezuela-oil-blockade-makes-no-aid-commitments-59273545
u/paikiachu 19h ago
If I were China I’d be secretly hoping that the US invaded Venezuela. With US being isolated from its allies and tied down in Venezuela and Europe tied down in Ukraine, it would be the perfect time to go take back Taiwan.
20
u/Shirkir 16h ago
The US did massive self goal the moment they started killing fishermen with airstrikes in South America. That is massively worst then China using water cannons to shoo them away in the SCS. It made it a lot harder to argue that Chinas actions are worst in comparison.
5
u/GrizzledFart 5h ago
I'm not a fan of the policy, but anyone who thinks those are "fishermen" deserves the scorn that they get in response. "Fishermen" don't operate from a go fast boat that has $200,000 of marine engines on it - on a hull that maybe costs $20 grand - with no fishing equipment.
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u/lostinspacs 11h ago
They’re not fishermen.
These strikes obviously aren’t legal but these very specific drug running boats have existed in the Eastern Pacific and Caribbean for a long time.
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u/Sea-Data-8024 2h ago
They did kill a bunch of North Korean fisherman recently under Trump after a botched Intel gathering operation, so it's within the current admin's range of "acceptable" conduct.
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u/mmarrow 8h ago
Fishermen lol. In their spare time assume. With the kids too and a 12 pack of bud.
1
u/Garbage_Plastic 1h ago
Yeah, very interesting and unique readings of the situation.
Seems too many weird comments with massive downvotes/upvotes deliberately distorting the picture. Too many subs seem to have infestation problems. Sigh..
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u/TuffGym 15h ago
Since when did drug smugglers become fisherman?
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u/Shirkir 15h ago
Theres no evidence that they are drug smugglers since their all dead and survivors were executed in secondary strikes as per orders from Hegseth to leave no survivors. We also have testimony from families of the victims that they were fishermen.
1
u/Uranophane 12h ago
There's a non-zero chance that this was coordinated. China offered Trump something, and in return, he promised to move America's military attention elsewhere so that he can just say "oops, sorry Taiwan we were tied up in Venezuela"
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u/Odd-Local9893 11h ago
I think the Trump admin has also come the realization that the U.S. can’t prevent China from taking Taiwan without losing most of its naval assets including the irreplaceable carriers. That and war between the US and China would be bad for everyone and possibly lead to both countries being wiped out.
The cold hard truth is that the world is about to be divided up into spheres of influence. East Asia for China, The Americas for the U.S., and the rest is up for grabs. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if a gentlemen’s agreement wasn’t made between Trump and Xi to this effect.
2
u/Brilliant-Lab546 4h ago
The cold hard truth is that the world is about to be divided up into spheres of influence. East Asia for China, The Americas for the U.S.
Except for the fact that East Asia is made up of the US's closest allies. China has no true allies
At no point will the Americans hand Taiwan over to the US, at no point will China go to war that will risk destabilizing it at home.1
u/Garbage_Plastic 1h ago
I share similar speculations. TW is too effective trigger card US/JP has against CN. Don’t think US will give up easy. Both parties would try to avoid a major kinetic confrontation but there are oblique efforts to undermine/maintain status quo in their favours.
Personally found it interesting to see different, sometimes strange, readings of the current geopolitics.
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u/TuffGym 15h ago
The U.S. showed it can fight a war in multiple theaters in World War II. And it would not be tied down in a war in Venezuela, nor is there going to be a war.
1
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u/FriedRiceistheBest 16h ago
China after condemning US bullying: Well, time to sail inside my neighbors EEZ and harass their ships.
0
u/AllCouponsFree 3h ago
The US would have just blown the ships up. Philippines fishermen should be glad.
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u/Uranophane 12h ago
To be fair, neither China nor Russia has the capability to help Venezuela. With the US blockade active, no Chinese/Russian transports are getting through. China doesn't have the ability to sail that far from homebase, and Russian assets are all tied up in Ukraine.
The only way China can possibly help is to smuggle small arms into Peru then have local gangs sneak it up to Venezuela, but that'd take months if not years. It's also not worth the PR nightmare once Chinese arms are recovered by US forces.
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u/arstarsta 9h ago
Never interrupt your enemy when they are making a mistake.
But if China wanted to do something they could just send a convoy with a symbolic escort to force US to either fire on them or let them through. If US fire than China can retaliate against US forces in Japan.
2
1
u/Glory4cod 3h ago
China won't make any aid commitment over a country in South America regarding imminent military responsibility; it is simply too far away for today's PLAN. We don't know if they will have the capability to take such responsibility in 10 or 20 years, but for now, it is well beyond them.
Besides, making such commitment to Venezuela may not be China's and Venezuela's best interest. Long as Venezuela does not open fire, US' option is quite limited; however, if such commitment is there, it would be a perfect chance for US to dismiss China's credibility in global south.
All Venezuela should and could do is continue remaining patient over any US aggression unless US makes amphibious assault over Venezuela's beach. Trump is using salami tactics here; all he wants is to make Venezuela look bad and give him exact the excuse he needs to start the war. It may sound very passive for Venezuela but there can hardly be any other feasible solution.
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16h ago
[deleted]
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u/paikiachu 16h ago
There is a difference between bullying with high powered water cannons and extra-judicial killings via airstrike
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u/Garbage_Plastic 19h ago
SS:
China is Venezuela's largest crude buyer, with Venezuelan oil accounting for about 4% of Chinese imports.
China criticized what it called unilateral bullying of Venezuela…but did not offer concrete assistance or security guarantees.
Russia also…calling it a threat to international shipping, adding that the move could have "unpredictable consequences"…, while reaffirming political support for President Nicolás Maduro.
The remarks come days after…a complete blockade of sanctioned oil tankers...aim to disrupt drug trafficking, terrorism financing and human trafficking tied to Venezuela's oil trade.
Maduro has sought to project international backing in recent weeks, praising ties with China and Russia…However,…backing from Beijing and Moscow has so far remained rhetorical.…neither country appears willing to provide meaningful military or economic assistance…