Bloomberg: Chinese see Trump’s actions as blueprint for move against Taiwan

Chinese social media users have reacted sharply to the U.S. capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, viewing Washington’s operation as a potential template for future actions against Taiwan, Bloomberg reports.

The operation, carried out on the orders of U.S. President Donald Trump, topped trending charts on the Chinese platform Weibo, amassing around 440 million views. In the comment sections, users openly drew comparisons between Venezuela and Taiwan, with some calling on Beijing to adopt a similar approach.

“I suggest using the same method to reclaim Taiwan in the future,” one user wrote. Another commented, “If the U.S. does not take international law seriously, why should we?”

Some remarks took a more radical tone. One user described the U.S. operation as an “ideal plan” for a surprise strike on Taiwan and the capture of the island’s president Lai Ching-te, using a derogatory term for Taiwan.

Political analysts caution, however, that the surge in nationalist sentiment online does not necessarily signal an imminent shift in Beijing’s strategy. Still, U.S. actions could provide China with additional arguments to increase pressure on Taiwan.

According to Ryan Hass, a former U.S. diplomat and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, Beijing is likely to privately highlight what it sees as Washington’s double standards. “China may expect to be granted the same exemptions from international law that the United States effectively allows itself,” he said.

By Khagan Isayev