(MENAFN- Gulf Times) China's
support for Venezuela has benefited ordinary people and been broadly
welcomed, the foreign ministry said yesterday after the US Treasury
accused China of aiding Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government
with murky oil-for-loan investments.
In a Friday speech at the
Centre for Strategic and International Studies, the US treasury's top
economic diplomat, David Malpass, said China's focus on commodities and
opaque financing deals had hurt, not helped, countries in the region.
His
attack on China's role in aiding the Venezuelan government came a day
after US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, ahead of a five-day tour of
Latin America, raised the prospect of a military coup in the oil-rich
country.
Speaking in Beijing, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng
Shuang said financial co-operation between the two countries was set by
companies and financial bodies in both nations on commercial, win-win
principles.
Loans were totally in accordance with international standards and benefited local people, he added.
'What the US said is baseless and extremely irresponsible, Geng said.
Co-operation
between China and Venezuela had supported the building of more than
10,000 low-cost houses, electricity generation and the cost of household
appliances for 3mn Venezuelan homes on low incomes, he added.
'China-Venezuela
co-operation has favourably promoted Venezuela's socio-economic
development and has been welcomed and supported by all levels of
society, Geng said.
'A stable Venezuela accords with the interests of all sides.
China
last week said the US was disrespecting Latin America after Tillerson
warned countries in the region against excessive reliance on economic
ties with China.
The Trump administration has imposed individual and
economic sanctions on Venezuela's government for rights abuses and
corruption.
Maduro has accused Washington of seeking to oust him to improve access to the Opec nation's oil wealth.
China and Venezuela have a close diplomatic and business relationship, especially in energy.
China has repeatedly brushed off widespread condemnation from the US, Europe and others about the situation in the country.
China has said it is confident in Venezuela's ability to properly handle its debts.
Venezuela
has borrowed billions of dollars from Russia and China, primarily
through oil-for-loan deals that have crimped the country's hard currency
revenue by requiring oil shipments to be used to service those loans.
Since
2007, China has loaned more than $50bn to Venezuela through an
oil-for-loans arrangement that helped Caracas reduce reliance on US
energy markets.
But the flow of funds from Beijing has slowed since
2014, when abundant crude oil led to a crash in oil markets and made
China less interested in maintaining its alliance with Venezuela.
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