The Chinese Foreign Ministry called the US demand for access to Venezuela's oil bullying.

Beijing strongly condemns Washington's intention to force Venezuela to grant the United States exclusive access to the country's oil reserves. This was announced on January 7 by the official representative of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Mao Ning.

The diplomat noted that Venezuela is a sovereign state that has full and inalienable sovereignty over its natural resources.

"The fact that the United States brazenly used force and now demands to dispose of Venezuelan oil is the realization of the slogan 'America first' and typical bullying," the diplomat said," Mao Ning said at a briefing.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry representative stressed that the actions of the American authorities seriously violate international law and the rights of the Venezuelan people.

Hotly contested: how the United States is building relations with Venezuela after Maduro's arrest

Washington expects to achieve full access of American companies to the oil infrastructure

ABC News TV channel, citing sources, noted on the same day that the US authorities are demanding that Venezuela's acting leader Delcy Rodriguez sever economic ties with China and Russia in order to be able to increase oil production. The White House told Rodriguez that the Venezuelan regime must comply with these requirements before it can be allowed to increase oil production.

On January 6, US President Donald Trump announced that the Venezuelan authorities would transfer from 30 to 50 million barrels of oil to the United States for subsequent sale on the market. According to Trump, we are talking about high-quality sanctioned oil, which will be sold at a market price. The American leader will personally take control of the revenue.

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