In the latest round of hostilities in his ongoing hybrid war against us to seize Essequibo, Venezuela’s Maduro moved from massing troops against us on Venezuela’s side of the 1899-determined border as he did in December 2023, to actually deploying on March 1, an armed naval vessel into our Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), far beyond what they have claimed in the past. There the warship came within 700 metres of the FPSO <<<Liza Destiny>>> and “warned” the captain: “You are operating in the Exclusive Economic Zone of Venezuela”. The Venezuelan Navy boat might as well have fired a shot across the bow of the FPSO.
Following our Government’s diplomatic protest, Pres Ali declared, “Guyana’s maritime boundaries are recognised under international law, and this incursion is a matter of grave concern. We will remain in close contact with our partners in protecting Guyana’s interests,” There were welcome expressions of support from Caricom, the Commonwealth, OAS, France and the US. The latter’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs warned tersely: “Venezuelan naval vessels threatening ExxonMobil’s floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) unit is unacceptable and a clear violation of Guyana’s internationally recognized maritime territory. Further provocation will result in consequences for the Maduro regime.”
But the threatened FPSO is not only owned by Exxon, as the US statement implied, but by a consortium of ExxonMobil (45%); Hess/Chevron (35%) and China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), owned by the Chinese State (25%). The US’s response to the Government of Guyana’s call in this fast-evolving transactional world, might concededly be because ExxonMobil/Hess/Chevron are American companies. The Marxist Janet Jagan awarded a most generous exploration licence back in 1999 to US oil major Exxon precisely because, as Pres Trump recently pointed out to Ukraine’s Zelenskiy, US mining companies in a foreign country are also “security guarantees”.
The question I wish to raise is why the deafening silence from China, since, even if it does not take seriously its protestations of being our friend and a world peacemaker, its own asset was directly threatened by the Venezuelan warship. On December 3, 2023 when Venezuela announced its referendum to annex Essequibo, China’s Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin was asked about the border controversy. He enunciated the Chinese position: “Venezuela and Guyana are both China’s good friends. China always respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries. China always supports the two countries in properly settling the issue of demarcation of their boundary through friendly consultation. This is in the interests of the people of both countries, and conducive to the stability, cooperation and development of Latin America and the Caribbean.” This accepts the Venezuelan position that the border is not legally demarcated.
However, back in 2023, CNOOC CEO Zhou Xinhua had affirmed that the “current development area is in a location without any disputes” and the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which China purports to support, had then ordered Venezuela to refrain from any further action regarding the territory.
China’s silence on the escalating threats from Venezuela belies its high-sounding call for “a new type of international relations characterised by dialogue and partnership rather than confrontation and alliance”. Out of all the countries in the world, China has the greatest wherewithal to influence Venezuela into a less confrontational course on the border controversy. In September 2023, just before Venezuela launched its annexation of Essequibo, relations between the two countries were elevated to an “all-weather strategic partnership”, higher than Guyana’s which has gone out on a limb to maintain its historic relationship with China. China is the largest lender to Venezuela – some US$60 billion – much of which is in default, but the plug has not been pulled. Venezuela’s PDVSA ships 400,000 barrels of oil per day to China to service the debt. China is also the number one supplier of arms to Venezuela.
On December 17 last, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi ostentatiously announced China’s five foreign policy goals. The first was “China will be a firm force for peace in a world of turbulence and conflicts” and “carry forward the Chinese way of settling hotspot issues and continue our constructive role in the political settlement of the Ukraine crisis…and other hotspot issues.” What about the Venezuelan-Guyana hotspot issue?? Waiting for an explosion? Isn’t China allowing Maduro to use the “law of the jungle” as Wang Yi just accused Trump of doing?
