China calls on U.S. to "stop interfering in the internal affairs of Venezuela"

China confirmed on Tuesday that it opposes the illegal unilateral sanctions imposed by the United States Government (USA) against Venezuela and called for an end to interference in the internal affairs of the South American country.

The spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Lin Jian, made the comments during one of his regular press conferences when asked about a statement published on Monday by the Venezuelan Government rejecting a US court-mandated auction of Citgo Petroleum Corporation, a subsidiary of Venezuelan national oil company PDVSA in the US.

Lin stated that China stands firmly for the UN Charter and the basic norms governing international relations:

"We oppose the illegal unilateral sanctions and the long-arm jurisdiction of the United States against Venezuela. The United States must completely stop interfering in Venezuela's internal affairs immediately, lift all illegal unilateral sanctions against Venezuela, and take actions that contribute to the peace, stability, and development of Venezuela and other countries."

The aforementioned statement, released by Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, explains that Citgo is a significant strategic asset of PDVSA and that its forced sale represents "a new episode of the multifaceted aggression carried out by US institutions against Venezuela, aiming to plunder the Venezuelan people of assets that belong to them."

Additionally, it denounced that "the Government of Venezuela and PDVSA were excluded from the judicial sale of CITGO and were prevented from defending their rights in US courts."

The auction of Citgo Petroleum Corporation (Citgo) continues to be carried out by the authorities of the United States of America. The sale looks to settle a long-running case where 18 creditors are seeking up to $21.3 billion for debt defaults and past expropriations by late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. The final round of bids is set to take place next week.

Venezuela's opposition has also been intensifying its lobbying efforts in Washington to persuade the Biden administration to intervene in the court-ordered sale of Citgo as it fears that, if executed, the sale could be used by the Maduro regime to blame the opposition for what would be a crucial loss ahead of the upcoming presidential elections, set for July 28.