HONG KONG — With the surprise capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, President Donald Trump declared U.S. authority over the entire Western Hemisphere — and warned China that it’s not welcome in America’s backyard. Trump administration officials have cited the need to counter China ’s growing influence in the region as a justification for the attack on Venezuela, which counts the country as its biggest customer for oil. “We’re not going to allow the Western Hemisphere to be a base of operation for adversaries, competitors and rivals of the United States,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio told NBC News this week. Experts say China, the world’s second-largest economy, is not likely to be dislodged from Latin America, where it has been investing and cultivating ties for more than 20 years as U.S. attention was focused elsewhere. Though the Trump administration has reportedly ordered Venezuela to sever economic ties with Beijing, Energy Secretary Chris Wright told Fox News on Thursday that the U.S. was “not going to cut off China” from Venezuelan oil, and the country would continue to buy it, “just like the rest of the world.” China is far from dependent on Venezuela for oil. While Beijing buys the majority of Venezuela’s crude oil exports, they make up only a single-digit percentage of all Chinese oil purchases. Nonetheless, Beijing has strongly condemned the U.S. strike on Venezuela and its claims to the country’s oil, saying, “The legitimate rights and interests of China and other countries in Venezuela must be protected.” “The United States’ reckless use of force against Venezuela and its demand that Venezuela dispose of its oil resources under the principle of ‘America First’ constitute bullying behavior,” foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Wednesday. Venezuela’s interim leader, Delcy Rodríguez, has welcomed the support, saying Thursday that she had met with Chinese Ambassador Lan Hu. “We value China’s firm and consistent stance in strongly condemning the serious violation of international law and Venezuelan sovereignty,” Rodríguez said in a post on Telegram, according to Reuters, referring to the U.S. capture of Maduro. Though Venezuela is China’s only “all-weather” strategic partner in Latin America, the relationship had deteriorated during Maduro’s 12-year rule, with bilateral trade and Chinese investment dropping off as Venezuela fell behind on billions in Chinese loan repayments and faltered on oil production. China also has no security commitments to Venezuela, meaning its support was mostly rhetorical as U.S. military forces massed in the months leading up to Maduro’s capture. Despite China’s investment interests, “I’m not sure they would want to be part of a conflict that, from the outside, doesn’t seem to involve them,” said Bárbara Fernández Melleda, an assistant professor of Latin American studies at the University of Hong Kong. In the wider region, Beijing’s focus has also been mostly economic, and it overtook the U.S. as South America’s top trading partner in 2010. In its annual report on the Chinese military last month, the Pentagon said Beijing was expanding its influence in Latin America through “infrastructure and energy development, economic assistance, and trade.” Artificial Intelligence Jan 9 AI is intensifying a ‘collapse' of trust online, experts say Venezuela Jan 7 How Delcy Rodríguez courted Donald Trump and rose to power in Venezuela Trump administration Jan 4 After Maduro, who's next? Trump's comments spur anxieties about Greenland, Cuba One of the splashiest projects is the Chancay port, a large deep-water port in Peru that opened in 2024 and “has put South America on the map in a big way,” said Carol Wise, a professor of international politics at the University of Southern California who specializes in Latin America. That growing economic footprint has helped it gain politically in recent years, as several Latin American countries switched diplomatic recognition to China from the Beijing-claimed island of Taiwan, most recently Honduras. But in its national security strategy released last month, the White House said it would “deny non-Hemispheric competitors” the ability to “own or control strategically vital assets” in the Americas. That includes seeking “to push out foreign companies that build infrastructure in the region.” There are “significant political and economic obstacles” to achieving that, especially when it comes to China, said Andrés Bórquez, an assistant professor and director of the master’s program in Asian studies at the Universidad de Chile. “Beijing has built trade and investment ties in multiple sectors in the region, from energy to ports, roads and technology, as part of its global New Silk Road strategy,” he said in emailed comments. Since Trump returned to the White House a year ago, his administration has been pushing Latin American countries to weaken their China ties, with some success. In Panama, where Trump has falsely claimed the Panama Canal is under Chinese control, the government has withdrawn from China’s Belt and Road global infrastructure program. CK Hutchison, a company based in the Chinese territory of Hong Kong, also said it would sell its two Panama Canal ports to a consortium led by the U.S. investment firm BlackRock, though the deal has been slowed down by Chinese regulatory scrutiny. Last month, Panamanian authorities carried out a nighttime demolition of a monument honoring the Chinese community, citing “structural risks” and drawing condemnation from Beijing. In Honduras, both candidates in the November presidential election said they would consider restoring relations with Taiwan, and in Mexico, lawmakers last month approved tariff increases of up to 50% on Chinese imports. The Latin American response to the U.S. attack on Venezuela has been divided, with Trump allies such as Argentine President Javier Milei and Ecuadorean President Daniel Noboa backing the action. By contrast, left-wing leaders such as Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva were “horrified,” Wise said. But there is no indication that Latin America as a whole is distancing itself from China in response to U.S. threats, Bórquez said. “What predominates is a diversity of mixed strategies, aimed at balancing relations with both powers,” he said. Wise noted how widely Chinese brands have been adopted in the region: Consumers buy smartphones from Xiaomi and Huawei, while electric vehicles from BYD and other Chinese automakers are “everywhere.” Even if the U.S. declares hegemony over Latin America, she said, “everyday life in terms of Chinese presence is not going to be affected by that.” Janis Mackey Frayer, Owen Hayes and Reuters contributed. ...read more read less