China opposes external forces interfering in Venezuela's internal affairs under any pretext, FM on Venezuela opposing US' claim over its airspace
Global Times
By GT staff reporters Published: Dec 03, 2025 04:52 PM
China stands against any action that violates the purposes and principles of the UN Charter or infringes on countries' sovereignty and security, and opposes external interference in Venezuela's domestic affairs under any pretext, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said on Wednesday.
The remarks came after Lin was asked to comment on the Venezuelan government's strong opposition to the US' claim on November 29 that the airspace above and surrounding the country should be considered closed.
According to Reuters, US President Donald Trump said on Saturday the airspace above and surrounding Venezuela should be considered "closed in its entirety," but gave no further details, stirring anxiety and confusion in Caracas as his administration ramps up pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government.
In a statement on Saturday afternoon, Venezuela's government condemned Trump's comments, describing them as a "colonialist threat" against the South American country's sovereignty and incompatible with international law, Reuters reported.
China calls on all parties to keep Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace and prevent further escalation, spokesperson Lin added.
CBS News reported that Trump on Tuesday local time said that his administration could attack accused drug traffickers who traverse Latin America by land "very soon," and that such a development would mark an escalation in the US military's campaign of lethal strikes on alleged drug boats.
However, Trump did not definitively say when or where any possible strikes might take place, the report said.
The Trump administration's intentions might go far beyond "regime change." At their core, they are about reasserting the practical authority of the Monroe Doctrine, the unchallenged hegemonic status of the US in Latin America, Li Haidong, a professor at China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times on Wednesday.
By turning the targeted country, Venezuela in this case, into a "sacrificial flag" and a "warning beacon," Washington seeks to create a domino effect that will compel other Latin American nations to submit obediently and follow Washington's lead in their relations with the US. This strategic design has already become crystal clear, he said.
Pan Deng, director of the Latin American and Caribbean Region Law Center at the China University of Political Science and Law, said that the repeated ground strike threats yet indefinite timeframe might suggest there are concerns on the Trump administration's side and the exchange of threats and hardline rhetoric might also be bargaining chips for future negotiations.
Any outbreak of large-scale armed conflict in Venezuela's major cities would likely trigger a massive new wave of Venezuelan migrants heading toward the US, and this is a scenario that directly contradicts the Trump administration's hardline immigration stance and Trump's repeated campaign promise to seal the southern border, Pan told the Global Times.
Furthermore, Maduro's forces have spent years preparing for urban and asymmetric warfare. Should fighting erupt, the conflict risks turning into a protracted, Vietnam-style quagmire, a prolonged war that would play to the political advantage of Democrats in next year's midterm elections while eroding Republican support, he added.
It could also rekindle painful collective memories of US interventionism across Latin American and South American countries, potentially swaying the votes of Latino voters in the US, the expert noted.
Since September 2, the Pentagon has carried out at least 21 strikes on alleged drug vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific Ocean, killing at least 83 people aboard, Xinhua reported.
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