China demands Maduro’s release and accuses the US of violating the UN Charter

China demanded this Sunday (4) the immediate release of the president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife, first lady Cilia Flores, after the military attack led by the United States that resulted in the capture and kidnapping of the couple from the country.

In a statement released by the Foreign Ministry, Beijing demanded that Washington “guarantee the personal safety of Nicolás Maduro and his wife, release them immediately, cease the overthrow of the Venezuelan government and resolve the issue through dialogue and negotiation.”

The Chinese assert that “the action of the United States constitutes a clear violation of international law, the basic norms of international relations and the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations.”

China had already condemned the US action this Saturday (3). In an official statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that it was “deeply shocked” by what it classified as the “brazen use of force against a sovereign State”.

Beijing also criticized the role of the United States in the multilateral system. “By circumventing the United Nations Security Council, Washington once again acted in direct opposition to the principles of international law,” he criticized.

According to the UN Charter, the use of force against another country is only permitted with authorization from the Security Council or in cases of self-defense.

“This aggression also deflates decades of US rhetoric that positions the country as the guardian of international rules. By bypassing the United Nations Security Council, Washington has once again acted in direct opposition to the principles of international law,” said the Chinese state agency Xinhua, in an editorial comment.

China appears as the largest buyer of Venezuelan oil, in many cases through intermediaries, amid the economic sanctions imposed by the United States and its allies on Venezuela over the past few years.

In an editorial comment, the Chinese state agency Xinhua framed the offensive against Venezuela as part of a broader logic of regional control by Washington.

Citing analysis from the North American press, the text states that, behind the operation, are “broader ambitions of the United States to reinforce control over its immediate surroundings”, associated with what it describes as an “updated Monroe Doctrine”.

For the Xinhuaeven though this doctrine is not openly proclaimed, its logic remains active, with the Western Hemisphere treated as the “exclusive sphere of influence” of the United States.

The editorial concludes that, “through its own repeated actions,” Washington has come to reveal itself as “one of the most serious threats to the very international order it claims to defend.”

Given this scenario, the agency maintains that “speaking unequivocally in defense of sovereignty and multilateralism is no longer optional” for the rest of the world.