00:00Venezuela's allies around the world have condemned the U.S. attack and the arrest of President Maduro and his wife.
00:07In the meantime, we are watching for China's reaction as well.
00:11Beijing says it's deeply shocked by the use of force against a sovereign state.
00:16Let's bring in our China correspondent, Min Min-Low.
00:18Min Min, talk to us about the Beijing reaction to all this.
00:22Yeah, Beijing has been joining other countries like Cuba, Mexico, Brazil, Russia to denounce the attack.
00:32And Beijing particularly concerned over this forcible detention and deportation of Maduro and his wife,
00:38calling on the U.S. to keep them safe and to release the leaders of a sovereign nation here.
00:44And also calling on the U.S. to stop any attempt to overthrow the Venezuelan government,
00:50with the foreign minister Wang Yi saying that no country should act as the world policeman
00:55or claim to be an international judge here.
00:58And also Beijing was deeply shocked, right, as you said, because just hours before those strikes,
01:04a high-level Chinese delegation was meeting with President Maduro.
01:08And China has been, you know, building up its ties with Venezuela,
01:12especially amid the growing pressure from the U.S. over the last few months,
01:16especially after the U.S. had blockaded or seized those oil tankers from Venezuela.
01:22And this is coming as China has been the biggest oil buyer of Venezuela.
01:27It is also the biggest creditor as well.
01:29It's pumped in by some estimates about $60 billion into Venezuela over the past many years
01:37in oil-backed loans to fund infrastructure investments and developmental projects, energy projects.
01:43So if the U.S. comes in to run a country like Venezuela and bring in those, you know,
01:49big U.S. oil companies to take over those important assets,
01:52it's going to put a threat on China's interests in the region as well.
01:58Min Min, tell us a little bit about some of the commentary that's been on Chinese social media,
02:03particularly in terms of comparing the U.S. experience in Venezuela to China's interests in Taiwan.
02:09Yeah, I mean, of course, it is sending a message to leaders like President Xi
02:16and even President Putin as well, right?
02:18If the U.S. views South America as its backyard where it can do whatever it wants,
02:23then what does that mean for President Xi and Putin in terms of what they can do
02:28and what they view as their spheres of influence?
02:31And China definitely sees Taiwan as a part of its own territory, not even a separate sovereign nation,
02:37so that all the more it gives them the justification to perhaps be more aggressive in taking back Taiwan.
02:44So that is being heavily discussed on Chinese social media right now,
02:47although some analysts are saying that perhaps the Chinese military may not be as capable as the U.S.
02:53to do what it did, right, to extract a leader of another nation alive.
02:57And people are saying that, you know, China may not be able to extract Lai Ching-de alive.
03:01They have other options. Assassination attempts may be more successful.
03:05But still, you know, China's overall strategy right now is a lot of live fire drills,
03:10diplomatic pressure to isolate Taiwan.
03:13They have stopped short of using violence or force as of now.
03:17And some analysts are saying that that could still remain the status quo
03:21because after all, this is still an opportunity for China to present itself
03:24as this alternative world leader and upholder of international law
03:29and an alternative to the U.S.
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