Opinion | How Trump’s raid on Caracas deepens US-China strategic tensions

We had barely entered the new year when Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were captured in a brazen raid on the orders of US President Donald Trump. In the early hours of January 3, the couple were taken from their residence in Caracas, Venezuela, and flown to the US in a military operation impeccably executed in the name of countering narcoterrorism.

Beijing, for one, was “deeply shocked” by Washington’s “hegemonic behaviour” and strongly condemned it. At a UN Security Council emergency meeting, the Chinese representative called the US move “unilateral, illegal and bullying”.

Following Maduro’s abduction, Trump said the US would “run” the country for the time being. This includes taking control of the country’s rich oil resources.

He has also been busy making threats. He warned Colombian President Gustavo Petro to “watch his a**”. He said Cuba “literally is ready to fall” without Venezuelan oil and that the US would “have to do something with Mexico” because “the [drug] cartels are very strong” there. He also reiterated his desire to annex Greenland, saying “we do need Greenland, absolutely”.

Few likely expected Trump to go this far to advance his disdain of international protocols, although he is known to be mercurial. Incidentally, even his loyal and trusted chief of staff Susie Wiles described him as having an “alcoholic’s personality”.