Chinese Social Media Explodes: US Invasion Of Venezuela A 'Template' For Move On Taiwan
A fascinating new report by Bloomberg on Sunday has observed a huge uptick in Chinese social media users weighing in on the decades-long Taiwan independence crisis, in relation to President Trump's weekend overthrow of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
"Trump's operation against the Venezuelan strongman shot to the top of China’s Weibo late Saturday, with the topic gaining some 440 million views on the X-like platform," Bloomberg reports. "Many commentators were quick to make comparisons between the fate of the South American nation and that of the self-ruled democracy Beijing has vowed to claim."
Like the long building military showdown between the United States and Venezuela, Taiwan has been a flashpoint in mainland China's shadow. It is 'small' in comparison with China's population and military might. But the situation is an inversion, with Washington having long armed Taiwan to the teeth.
This fact is obvious enough to spark an avalanche of commentary, with Bloomberg citing one Weibo post and thread (among many) which said "I suggest using the same method to reclaim Taiwan in the future" - in reference to Beijing's designs on 'reuniting' the self-ruled island with the mainland.
Another user said, "The US imperialists’ lightning raid on Venezuela to capture Maduro and his wife provides a perfect blueprint for our military to launch a surprise attack on Frog Island and seize [Taiwanese President] Lai Ching-te" - which utilized a popular derogatory term for Taiwan.
China has joined Russia in demanding the immediate release of Maduro, with the foreign ministry staying it was "deeply shocked" by the "blatant use of force against a sovereign state."
The same report features the perspective of former diplomat Ryan Hass:
"I don’t expect today’s events in Venezuela will dramatically shift Beijing’s calculus on Taiwan," Ryan Hass, a former US diplomat and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, wrote on X. "Beijing hasn’t refrained from kinetic or other actions on Taiwan out of deference to international law and norms."
"Privately, I expect Beijing will emphasize to Washington that it expects to be given the same latitude for great power exemptions to international law that the US takes for itself," he added, citing China’s operations in the South China Sea, where it has territorial disputes with US allies and other regional neighbors.
Indeed under Trump it is a new day. Not only does he "speak the truth out loud" - no longer merely hiding behind platitudes like "spreading democracy" in the name of the "rules-based order", he unapologetically just invades countries he doesn't like (as the foray into Caracas makes clear).
The US has long condemned Moscow of doing just this (in Ukraine, or in Georgia over a decade ago). The Kremlin has reacted this weekend to the Venezuela intervention by saying "just watch the double standards in motion."
Beijing without doubt is signaling the same thing. It is asking essentially: if the US can do this in its own backyard (invade a small 'nuisance' country), then why can't China do the same?
Time to watch the double standards in real time.
— Kirill Dmitriev (@kadmitriev) January 3, 2026