CARACAS, Venezuela (AP): China is calling on the United States to stay out of Venezuela’s current political crisis and says it opposes all outside intervention in the South American country.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Thursday that all parties to the conflict should “remain rational and level-headed and seek a political resolution on the Venezuelan issue through peaceful dialogue within the framework of the Venezuelan Constitution.”
Hua said China “opposes external intervention in Venezuela. We hope that the international community will jointly create favorable conditions for this.”
She said: “We hope that Venezuela and the United States can respect and treat each other on an equal footing, and deal with their relations based on non-interference in each other’s internal affairs.”
Over the last decade, China has given Venezuela $65 billion in loans, cash and investment. Venezuela owes more than $20 billion.
China’s only hope of being repaid appears to lie in Venezuela ramping up oil production, although low petroleum prices and the country’s crashing economy appear to bode poorly for such an outcome.
