Venezuela 's acting president Delcy Rodriguez meets Chinese Ambassador to Venezuela Lan Hu on Jan 9, 2026. Photo: Courtesy of Rodriguez's Instagram

Venezuela's acting president Delcy Rodriguez on Thursday expressed gratitude to China for condemning the US aggression against Venezuela and the seizure of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, according to a post Rodriguez published on Instagram.

Rodriguez said on social media that she met Thursday with Chinese Ambassador to Venezuela Lan Hu, and noted that Caracas values China's firm position in strongly denouncing the grave violations of international law and Venezuelan sovereignty.

Amid the volatile situation following the US forcibly seizing the Venezuelan president and Washington's constant pressure on Bogota to severe ties with other countries including China, the meeting sends an important signal that Venezuela remains firm on developing its relations with China, Sun Yanfeng, a research fellow from the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, told the Global Times on Friday.

The international community is deeply shocked by the Trump administration's raid on Maduro. Multiple countries have issued statements strongly condemning the US' blatant use of force against a sovereign state and action against its president, which is widely believed to have violated international law.

China attaches importance to its relations with Venezuela and maintains sound communication and cooperation with the Venezuelan government, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on Friday in response to a question about a social media post by Venezuela's acting president Delcy Rodriguez saying that she had met with the Chinese ambassador to Venezuela. 

China will continue to firmly support Venezuela in upholding its sovereignty, dignity, national security and lawful rights and interests. No matter what political changes may take place in Venezuela, it will not change China's will of deepening practical cooperation in various fields with Venezuela and promoting common development.

On Thursday local time, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil once again expressed his gratitude to China for its support for Venezuela in social media posts — the second consecutive day the Venezuelan top diplomat has voiced thanks to China.

The Venezuelan government once again expresses its profound gratitude to China for its firm stance in pointing out and rejecting the politicization and instrumentalization of human rights as a pretext for interfering in the internal affairs of other countries, Gil said in a X post on Thursday in Spanish. 

This practice has been used against Venezuela to discredit the Venezuelan government and has paved the way for the illegal military aggression against Venezuela. Likewise, we thank China for its firm position in rejecting the violation of international law and of Venezuela's sovereignty. The Venezuelan people reaffirm their commitment to political, territorial sovereignty and over their natural resources, the Venezuelan top diplomat said in the X post. 

Earlier on Thursday, Gil said in a separate post on X that the Venezuelan government thanks this support from the Chinese authorities that defends international law and stresses the full sovereignty that the Venezuelan people have over the territory and natural resources. He also posted a video of the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning addressing the matter of Venezuela during a regular press conference. 

He also said Thursday on social media that Venezuela reaffirms its commitment to deepening economic and trade agreements with China, according to the Xinhua News Agency. 

"Venezuela reaffirms its commitment to deepening trade and economic agreements with the People's Republic of China," Gil posted on Telegram, per Xinhua.

A day earlier, Gil said in a X post that "the Venezuelan people, together with the Bolivarian Government, express their most sincere gratitude to the People's Republic of China for its firm support of the sovereignty, peace, and legitimate rights and interests of Venezuela."

"We particularly value its warning that no country can place its norms and foreign policies above the international provisions that govern and protect all our peoples. Likewise, we extend our gratitude for China's willingness to collaborate with the Latin American and Caribbean region in preserving the status of peace zone," Gil said.

China always opposes turning human rights into political issues and tools, rejects a selective approach on international law, and opposes interfering in other countries' internal affairs under the pretext of human rights issues, Chinese Foreign Ministry's spokesperson Mao Ning said during the regular press conference on Thursday.  

China firmly supports Venezuela in safeguarding sovereignty, security and legitimate rights and interests, and supports all countries in choosing the path to human rights development that suits their national conditions. China stands ready to work with the international community to jointly defend the authority of international law, jointly advocate multilateralism, and uphold world peace and stability, Mao said.