The United States on Monday, November 30, imposed sanctions on a major Chinese electronics and engineering company for assisting Venezuela in curbing dissent on the internet.
"The United States will not hesitate to target anyone helping to suppress the democratic will of the Venezuelan people and others around the world," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement. China is a major supporter and commercial partner of oil-producing Venezuela, helping leftist leader Nicolas Maduro survive a nearly two-year US-led campaign to topple him as he leads an economy in shambles.
"China will take the necessary measures to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of its own enterprises," she added, without specifying further. "Maduro's desperate attempts to manipulate the democratic processes should leave no doubt that any elections organized by the illegitimate regime, including the December 6 parliamentary elections, will be neither free nor fair," Pompeo said in a statement.