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After Washington launched extensive military operations in the capital, Caracas, as well as other regions, and kidnapped the leader, China has demanded that the US release Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro immediately.

Beijing called on the US to “stop toppling the government of Venezuela,” calling the attack a “clear violation of international law,” and insisted that Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores’ safety be top of the list on Sunday.

After US President Donald Trump claimed Washington had taken Maduro and his wife and flown them out of the country, China issued the second statement since Saturday.

Beijing urged Washington to abide by the UN charter on Saturday, criticizing the US for “hegemonic acts” and “blatant use of force” against Venezuela and its president.

According to Andy Mok, a senior research fellow at the Center for China and Globalization, China is closely monitoring Venezuela’s developments.

Given the scope of US strategic and economic interests in the area, Mok claimed a Chinese delegation had met Venezuelan officials just hours prior to the US action.

He claimed that the operation’s execution was unique because it might “represent the long-term US strategy in the region.”

Although China imports only 4-5 percent of Venezuela’s total oil, Mok continued. However, it is Venezuela’s top oil buyer. He added that China is paying close attention to regional political shifts because it has growing trade and investment interests throughout Latin America.

Given that Latin America is a “pillar of China’s Global South strategy,” Mok warned, it might increase tensions with China if a future US administration were to revive a Monroe Doctrine-style policy.

According to China-based analyst Shaun Rein, diplomatic protest is likely to be the best option for China’s response to the events in Venezuela.

According to Rein, the founder of the China Market Research Group, “I think China has condemned the United States very harshly, and they are working with other Latin American and Caribbean nations to demonstrate this isn’t right.”

Beijing has a lot of options, according to Rein, who expressed concern but is deeply alarmed.

There aren’t many things China can do, they say. It lacks, to be honest, the military might. America has 800 military installations, compared to China’s two outside of China, according to Rein, who noted that “history doesn’t indicate that China is not warlike.”

China will simply issue proclamations criticizing US actions, but it won’t likely back down with economic sanctions or military action.

celebrations and condemnations across the globe

Since the US military’s deployment to Venezuela, there has been a lot of international opinion, with some people firmly opposed to the intervention.

Maduro’s ouster has largely been denounced by left-leaning regional leaders in Brazil, Colombia, Chile, and Mexico, while countries with right-wing governments, like Argentina and Ecuador, have largely accepted it.

The US was denounced by North Korea. strikes on Venezuela, calling the act “the most serious form of encroachment of sovereignty,” according to state news agency KCNA on Sunday.

According to a representative for the North Korean Foreign Ministry, the incident is yet another illustration of how rogue and brutal the United States are.

On Sunday, South Korea also reacted by calling for a de-escalation of tensions.

“Our government urges all parties involved to make the best efforts possible to lower regional tensions. According to its Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “we hope for a quick stabilization of the situation through dialogue, ensuring democracy is restored, and ensuring the will of the Venezuelan people is honored.”

On Sunday, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese vowed to support a “peaceful, democratic transition” of Venezuelan power, but he also reaffirmed his support for international law.

His government “monitoring developments,” he said in a statement.

Venezuela has become more isolated, especially in the wake of Maduro’s contested 2024 election.

After Donald Trump announced that the US would “run” Venezuela following the abduction of President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, protesters gathered all over the world. What they call US imperialism and aggression are being denounced by demonstrators in Paris and Sao Paulo.

In a move that stunned the world, the United States bombed Venezuela and toppled President Nicolas Maduro amid condemnation and plaudits.

In a news conference on Saturday at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, President Donald Trump praised the operation to seize Maduro as one of the “most stunning, effective and powerful displays of American military might and competence in American history”.

It was the riskiest and most high-profile military operation sanctioned by Washington since the US Navy’s SEAL team killed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in a safe house in Pakistan’s Abbottabad in 2011.

News of the 63-year-old Maduro being abducted took over the global news cycle.

After months of escalation and threats over Maduro’s alleged involvement in shipping drugs to the US, the Trump administration had increased pressure on Caracas with a military build-up in the Caribbean and a series of deadly missile attacks on alleged drug-running boats that had killed more than 100 people and whose legality has been heavily questioned by the United Nations and legal experts.

The US had also previously offered a $50m reward for information leading to Maduro’s arrest.

But while the military was conducting operations in the Caribbean, US intelligence had been gathering information about Maduro, his eating habits, and special forces covertly rehearsed a plan to remove him from power forcibly.

Here’s everything we know about how Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were “captured”.

How was Maduro abducted?

The operation, named “Absolute Resolve”, was carefully rehearsed for months, according to General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who spoke at Trump’s news conference.

Trump also told Fox News that US forces had practised their extraction of Maduro on a replica building.

“They actually built a house which was identical to the one they went into with all the same, all that steel all over the place,” Trump said.

At 11:46pm local time on Friday (03:46 GMT on Saturday), Trump gave the green light.

On Friday night, Caine said, “the weather broke just enough, clearing a path that only the most skilled aviators in the world could move through”, with about 150 aircraft involved in the operation, taking off from 20 different airbases across the Western Hemisphere.

As part of the operation, US forces disabled Venezuela’s air defence systems, with Trump saying the “lights of Caracas were largely turned off due to a certain expertise that we have”, without elaborating.

Several deafening explosions rang out across the capital, with Pete Hegseth, the defence secretary, describing it as part of a “massive joint military and law enforcement raid” that lasted less than 30 minutes.

US helicopters then touched down at Maduro’s compound in the capital at 2:01am (06:01 GMT) on Saturday, with the president and his wife then taken into custody.

There has been no readout on whether there was an exchange of fire, in a chaotic scramble, or if they were taken without a struggle.

At 4:29am (08:29 GMT), just two and a half hours later, Maduro was put on board a US aircraft carrier, en route to New York. Trump later posted a photograph of the Venezuelan leader on his Truth Social social media platform, blindfolded, wearing a grey tracksuit.

After departing the USS Iwo Jima, US forces escorted Maduro on a flight, touching down in New York’s Stewart Air National Guard Base at about 4:30pm (21:30 GMT).

How many people were killed in the US strikes on Venezuela?

The US strikes hit Caracas as well as the states of Miranda, Aragua and La Guaira, according to the Venezuelan government.

To Linda Unamumo, a public worker, the US attacks caused an explosion that was so strong it destroyed the roof of her house.

“Even up until a little while ago, I was still crying … I was crying because I was so scared … I had to leave my house with my daughter, with my family, and go to another house, a neighbour’s house. It was really traumatic. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone, really,” she told the AFP news agency.

While official casualty counts have yet to be released, an official told The New York Times newspaper on condition of anonymity that at least 40 people had been killed in the attacks.

According to Trump, a few US members were injured in the operation, but he believed no one was killed.

What’s next for Venezuela?

During his news conference on Saturday, Trump announced that the US would “run” the country until a new leader was chosen.

“We’re going to make sure that country is run properly. We’re not doing this in vain,” he said. “This is a very dangerous attack. This is an attack that could have gone very, very badly.”

The president did not rule out deploying US troops in the country and said he was “not afraid of boots on the ground if we have to”.

Trump also, somewhat surprisingly, ruled out working with opposition figure and Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado, who had dedicated her prize, which he so wanted to win himself, to the US president.

“She doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country,” he said.

The Constitutional Chamber of Venezuela’s Supreme Court ordered Vice President Delcy Rodriguez to serve as acting president following the US’s abduction of Maduro.

The court ruled that Rodriguez will assume “the office of President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, in order to guarantee administrative continuity and the comprehensive defence of the Nation”.

The court also said it would work to “determine the applicable legal framework to guarantee the continuity of the State, the administration of government, and the defense of sovereignty in the face of the forced absence of the President of the Republic”.

Trump had said earlier on Saturday that the US would not occupy Venezuela, provided Rodriguez “does what we want”.