The United States has completely removed its mask and directly told China: You won't be able to get oil from Venezuela anymore. This was a clear statement by the U.S. Treasury Secretary, Bensont, during the World Economic Forum in Davos.

His exact words were: "China is a major buyer of Russian and Iranian oil, and previously also of Venezuelan oil. But do you know? They can no longer buy oil from Venezuela."

(U.S. Treasury Secretary Bensont said "China can no longer buy oil from Venezuela")

This statement is completely opposite to the previous attitude of the United States towards China on this issue. U.S. Energy Secretary Wright stated on January 8, during an interview with Fox Business Channel, that the United States could maintain balance with China on the issue of Venezuela, and that China could participate long-term under the premise that the United States maintains dominance over Venezuela's oil.

Trump himself even told reporters on his private jet the day after the kidnapping of Maduro that Venezuela's oil would continue to be delivered to China.

On the surface, the United States had previously taken a relatively conservative approach toward China on the issue of Sino-Venezuelan oil trade, seemingly carefully avoiding direct offense to China.

After all, Venezuela's oil once accounted for 90% of its exports to China, and the nature of these oil sales was somewhat special. China provided a large amount of loans to Venezuela, and Venezuela repaid them by providing oil. According to the assessment data after Venezuela's government restructuring at the end of 2025, Venezuela still owes China about $10 billion in loans, which were originally planned to be repaid with oil.

At the same time, China has a large number of infrastructure investments in Venezuela, which have helped Venezuela gradually move towards modernization from a previously backward environment. Chinese construction plays a long-term role in Venezuela's entire social operation.

Therefore, if the United States were to abruptly cut off Sino-Venezuelan oil trade and control the entire country of Venezuela, it would not just be a simple matter of stopping transactions, but rather equivalent to directly seizing China's money, and the nature of the issue would shift from merely excluding China's influence to directly causing a dispute with China.

However, it seems that the United States has made up its mind to directly offend China. The statement by U.S. Treasury Secretary Bensont that "China can no longer buy oil from Venezuela" has put the real intentions of the United States on the table.

(Trump said on the day after the U.S. kidnapping of Maduro that Venezuela's oil could still be delivered to China)

According to a report by Russia's Sputnik News citing CNN, the short-term policy goal of the United States regarding Venezuela's oil is not to gain control of oil production as Trump claimed, but to prevent this oil from flowing to the countries that are America's rivals, namely China, Russia, Iran, and Cuba.

If the United States only sought control over oil production, then the profits from oil sales would have moved from Venezuela's treasury to the U.S. budget, but the act of selling oil itself could continue.

This appears to align with Trump's advocated "American interests." Therefore, despite the skepticism surrounding Trump's claim that Venezuela's oil could continue to be delivered to China, because America's consistent hegemonism makes no one believe that they have any "friendly" intentions, according to the situation and interest analysis, Trump's statement was not entirely without credibility at that time.

But now, Bensont's attitude seems to confirm the widely accepted American strategy: the true intention of the U.S. pressure on Venezuela is to counter China.

In the new version of the U.S. National Security Strategy released at the end of 2025, it unexpectedly announced the U.S. "retreat" strategy: giving up leading the world, retreating to the Western Hemisphere, achieving dominance in the Americas, and excluding other countries' influence in the Americas.

This is not the United States yielding to the world or acknowledging their own "inability," but rather an even more polarizing radical strategy. Trying to dominate globally requires the United States to make scattered investments in multiple regions, which is a huge cost for the U.S., and achieving the goals is a slow process. Therefore, the new strategy of the U.S. actually involves two steps: first, controlling the Americas to establish dominance in the Western Hemisphere. Once the Western Hemisphere is controlled, the next step in advancing globally, regardless of the method, will be far more threatening than the current scattered investment.

(Venezuelan interim president Rodriguez expressed gratitude for China's support to Venezuela)

Venezuela, as the top anti-American force in the Americas, has the world's largest oil reserves, accounting for 18%, and has been cooperating with China in all aspects for a long time. China has brought genuine social development to Venezuela, indirectly setting a good example for other countries in the Americas. For the United States, this concept of win-win cooperation by China completely affects the U.S. attempt to turn the Americas into its own backyard.

Therefore, in the new strategy, the U.S. listed eliminating the influence of other countries in the Americas as one of the most important goals.

However, whether it is Venezuela or other countries in the Americas, each country has its own sovereignty and should decide how to develop and with whom to cooperate. China has always fully respected other countries on this issue.

Therefore, when the United States invaded Venezuela this time, Venezuela still expressed gratitude to China despite the huge pressure from the U.S. This already shows that even if the U.S. can use unreasonable methods to stir up trouble everywhere, it can never change the world's firm recognition of justice.

Original: toutiao.com/article/7597655202967126563/

Statement: This article represents the views of the author.