43 h. ago Trump pick for South America command sidesteps China questions at Senate hearing

Days after the operation that abducted then Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, President Donald Trump’s nominee to command US forces in Latin America dodged pressure from senators to endorse a military-first plan to counter China’s growing influence in the region. Lieutenant General Francis Donovan, who is nominated to lead US Southern Command (Southcom), repeatedly declined to say whether Washington should rely mainly on force projection to push back against Beijing’s expanding footprint. The...

Politics

3 d. ago Why the US may find Iran’s air defence system harder to break than Venezuela’s

A bit more than a week after the United States abducted former Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro in a raid on Caracas, US President Donald Trump is threatening military action against Iran, which is seeing a massive wave of anti-government protests. Yet a strike aimed at taking out the Iranian leadership could prove harder, given that Iran’s more sophisticated air defence system is also reported to be integrating China’s most advanced exported technology. On Tuesday, Trump wrote on his social...

Politics

5 d. ago The US has played its hand in Latin America. Will China’s firms there cash out?

With domestic profits narrowing and production capacity expanding, China’s firms are continuing to widen their overseas footprints in search of new, more lucrative markets. In this series, we examine China Inc.’s next phase of “going global” and the complex, challenging international environment its companies have chosen to enter. In the days since Washington’s ousting and abduction of former Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro – an event that sent shock waves through global markets – some...

Economics

6 d. ago Cuba defiant after Trump says island to receive no more Venezuelan oil or money

US President Donald Trump on Sunday said no more Venezuelan oil or money will go to Cuba and suggested the Communist-run island should strike a deal with Washington, ramping up pressure on the long-time US nemesis. Venezuela is Cuba’s biggest oil supplier, but no cargoes have departed from Venezuelan ports to the Caribbean country since the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro by US forces in early January amid a strict US oil blockade on the Opec country, shipping data shows. “THERE...

Politics

6 d. ago Cuba defiant after Trump threat to cut off ‘oil and money’ lifeline

US President Donald Trump on Sunday said no more Venezuelan oil or money will go to Cuba and suggested the Communist-run island should strike a deal with Washington, ramping up pressure on the long-time US nemesis and provoking defiant words from the island’s leadership. Venezuela is Cuba’s biggest oil supplier, but no cargoes have departed from Venezuelan ports to the Caribbean country since the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro by US forces in early January amid a strict US oil...

Politics

8 d. ago How far is China willing to go to help Cuba in face of increasing US pressure?

China is expected to be cautious about confronting the United States over Cuba as Washington ramps up its threats following the abduction of former Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro. Since the raid on Caracas, the White House has increasingly turned its attention towards the western hemisphere’s only Communist state, along with Colombia and Greenland, with President Donald Trump saying “Cuba looks like it’s ready to fall”. Havana is also heavily reliant on subsidised Venezuelan oil and is...

Events

1 week ago Trump says Greenland is ‘surrounded’ by Chinese ships. What’s the real story?

Just 24 hours after abducting the former Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and his wife from Caracas, US President Donald Trump had already named his next potential target for military action: Greenland. Trump has been discussing “a range of options” – including the use of armed force – to acquire the self-governed Danish territory, the White House said on Tuesday. What would a US takeover of Greenland mean for China, if it were to really happen? The Post breaks down trade relations between the...

Politics

1 week ago Energy markets are political – Venezuela is the latest proof

The United States’ forcible removal of Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro from power has reignited a debate over international law and sovereignty. But this risks obscuring a more consequential fact: global energy markets are not governed primarily by liberal market logic, but are shaped by geopolitical strategy. Venezuela matters less as a case in itself than as a signal of how energy is being repositioned amid intensifying US-China economic competition. For decades, many assumed that energy...

Politics

1 week ago Use of US military to acquire Greenland ‘always an option’, White House says

US President Donald Trump and his team are discussing options for acquiring Greenland and the use of the US military in furtherance of the goal is “always an option”, the White House said on Tuesday. Trump’s ambition of acquiring Greenland as a strategic US hub in the Arctic, where there is growing interest from Russia and China, has been revived in recent days in the wake of the US arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Greenland has repeatedly said it does not want to be part of the...

Events

1 week ago Venezuela attack seen as reminder for China to boost air defence, counter

The US operation to abduct Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro serves as a reminder for China to bolster its air defences and counter-intelligence protections, observers say. Analysts in China described Venezuela’s air defences – which rely largely on Russian technology – as “full of flaws and slow to react” amid the modern surveillance, cyber, and electronic warfare displayed by US forces in Saturday’s operation in Caracas. The operation could serve as a further case study for China, which has...

Events

1 week ago Chinese firm owner in Venezuela warns of spillover after Maduro’s abduction

Eight years after leaving Venezuela, David Hou, a native of southern China’s Guangdong province, returned last year, pleased to find what he described as an improved economic environment. That optimism is now shrouded in uncertainty after the United States abducted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on allegations of narcoterrorism and possessing “destructive devices” – charges he has firmly rejected. While the full impact has yet to be felt, the situation is “making people anxious and very...

Events

1 week ago Trump team praises US media for keeping its Venezuela raid plan secret

In the wake of last weekend’s US military action in Venezuela, the US news media got something it has seldom heard from the Trump administration: a “thank you”. Secretary of State Marco Rubio credited news organisations that had learned in advance about last Saturday’s strike that led to the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro with not putting the mission in jeopardy by publicly reporting on it before it happened. Rubio’s acknowledgement was particularly noteworthy because US Defence...

Politics

1 week ago US’ Asian allies reluctant to slam Trump over Venezuela despite his ‘cowboy tactics’

The mild responses by America’s Asian allies in response to the US military strike on Venezuela stem from a desire not to “bite the hand that feeds” them, analysts have said, noting that some countries were buying time by claiming to monitor the situation. Following the raid that captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Saturday to face narcoterrorism charges on US soil, President Donald Trump declared on Sunday that Washington was “in charge” of the South American nation, including its...

Politics

1 week ago What assets does China have in Venezuela, and what could happen with Maduro gone?

Amid prolonged international sanctions imposed on Venezuela, Chinese enterprises stand out as some of the few willing to pour resources into the South American country’s turbulent economy. However, Saturday’s capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro by US forces – just hours after Maduro met with Chinese diplomats to reaffirm their strategic partnership – raises concerns about the future of such investments. In this explainer, we examine the portfolio of Chinese assets in Venezuela and how...

Politics

1 week ago Venezuela’s Maduro arrives at New York federal courthouse on drug trafficking charges

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was due to be arraigned in a New York court on Monday on charges of narcoterrorism and possession of illegal weapons, after being forcibly taken into US custody following a strike on his Caracas compound 60 hours earlier. The indictment, which was filed in secret on December 25, and unveiled on Saturday, accuses Maduro of heading a “corrupt, illegitimate government” powered by an extensive drug-trafficking network that flooded the US with thousands of tons of...

Events

1 week ago Philippine lawmakers say US move on Venezuela complicates Manila’s rules

The Philippines’ long-standing alliance with the United States has come under fresh scrutiny after Washington’s move against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, with critics in Manila warning the action had complicated the country’s claim to champion a rules-based international order. Opposition lawmakers and analysts said the US operation, which resulted in Maduro being captured and brought to the United States to face charges, had left the Philippines “compromised” and exposed to charges of...

Politics

1 week ago Venezuela latest: China tells Trump to keep hands off oil and release Maduro

Venezuela latest: China tells Trump to keep hands off oil and release Maduro  The Times

Politics

1 week ago After Trump’s Venezuela takeover, China’s investors prep for Latin American era of anxiety

Chinese companies operating in Latin America are bracing for greater uncertainty rather than abrupt rupture, as Washington moves to reassert dominance in the western hemisphere following the ousting of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, according to analysts. This sense of caution comes amid intensifying US efforts to curb China’s footprint in strategic resources, infrastructure and trade across the region. “There is little doubt that a Trump-style Monroe Doctrine is aimed squarely at...

Politics

1 week ago China is likely to thread the needle after US attack on Venezuela

China will be patient and play the long game as it views the new geopolitical chessboard, recalibrating carefully in the wake of US President Donald Trump’s move on Saturday to decapitate Venezuela’s leadership, analysts said. In a daring predawn raid, US forces descended on ousted Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro and airlifted him shackled and blindfolded to New York to face charges of “narcoterrorism conspiracy” and illegal weapons trafficking. “China is likely to thread this needle...

Events

1 week ago Donald Trump tells Venezuelan VP Delcy Rodriguez to cooperate, or else

US President Donald Trump issued a stark warning on Sunday to Venezuela’s interim leader, Delcy Rodríguez, saying she would pay a potentially larger price than her former boss, ousted Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro, if she does not cooperate with the United States. In the early hours of Saturday morning, US forces staged a complex raid that saw Maduro and his wife seized from their home, jailed and airlifted to New York to face trial on “narcoterrorism” and illegal weapons charges. “If she...

Politics