The surprise raid to snatch President Nicolas Maduro out of Venezuela may have been a much higher-stakes operation than it seemed.

We’re not going to allow the Western Hemisphere to be a base of operation for adversaries, competitors and rivals of the United States,” Marco Rubio told NBC News this week.

China said it’s “deeply shocked” by the US’s military strikes on Venezuela and its capture of President Nicolas Maduro.

China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi condemned the U.S. for capturing Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, asserting that no nation should act as the world's judge or police. His comments came during a meeting with Pakistan's foreign minister,

First, the country must kick out China, Russia, Iran, and Cuba and sever economic ties, the sources said. Second, Venezuela must agree to partner exclusively with the U.S. on oil production and favor America when selling heavy crude oil, they added.

The US’ Venezuela intervention, as well as its recent military strikes in Africa and the Middle East, decreases its bandwidth for Asia, says an expert.

The second day of the large-scale war games, called “Justice Mission 2025,” saw the Chinese military encircle Taiwan on Tuesday.

President Trump said that his actions in Venezuela did not set a precedent for other countries like Russia and China because he claimed he was responding to a “real threat.”

One of the clearest reasons for cautious stability in China-U.S. relations in 2026 lies in the trajectory of the preceding year. In many respects, 2025 marked a phase of resilience for China – one in which pressure was absorbed, expectations stabilized, and the terms of competition subtly shifted.

China announced largely symbolic sanctions against 20 US defense companies and 10 executives, signaling its anger over Washington’s latest arms sales to Taiwan while stopping short of a broader escalation.

Trump said US control of Venezuelan oil after the military removal of Nicolas Maduro could last years, in an interview with the New York Times.