China backs Cuba as Havana raises US fuel pressure in Beijing

Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his Cuban counterpart Bruno Rodriguez in Beijing that China would firmly support Cuba in safeguarding its sovereignty and opposing sanctions, blockades and foreign interference, regardless of how the international situation changed.

The ministry’s readout said Rodriguez reaffirmed Havana’s adherence to the one-China principle and its support for the four global initiatives put forward by Chinese President Xi Jinping.

In a social media post, Rodriguez said he thanked China for its long-standing support, particularly for helping Cuba shift its energy mix amid what he described as a US fuel blockade.

The US State Department last Thursday sanctioned China National Electronic Import and Export Company and Beijing H&C Technologies, accusing them of working with a Cuban arms procurement company to supply military equipment to the island this year.

The same package targeted entities and tankers linked to Cuba’s oil shipping network.

China’s foreign ministry condemned the measures the following day, when spokesman Guo Jiakun called them illegal and an exercise of “long-arm jurisdiction”. The commerce ministry urged Washington on Saturday to reverse them.

Fuel blockade and Chinese aid

Venezuela and Mexico had been among Havana’s main oil suppliers, but since January only a single Russian tanker carrying 730,000 barrels has reached the island, and that delivery was used up by the end of April.

Cuba has suffered at least seven nationwide blackouts this year, and Energy Minister Vicente de la O Levy said in May that the country had run out of diesel and fuel oil.

In January, Xi approved US$80 million in emergency aid for Cuba to buy electrical equipment, alongside a donation of 60,000 tonnes of rice. Cuba has also added about 1,300 megawatts of solar capacity over the past two years, much of it built with Chinese equipment and financing. However, grid instability means much of that power is lost.

A US State Department fact sheet on last week’s sanctions cited a July report which said Havana’s partnerships with China and Russia had supplied military hardware and surveillance technology.

Rodriguez also met Wang Huning, a member of the Communist Party’s Politburo Standing Committee and China’s top political adviser. Wang told him Cuba could always count on China, according to Cuban state broadcaster Radio Rebelde.

In a separate post, Rodriguez said he had met Liu Haixing, head of the party’s International Department, and Chen Xiaodong, head of the China International Development Cooperation Agency, which manages Beijing’s solar donations to Cuba.

Cuban Deputy Prime Minister Oscar Perez-Oliva Fraga, who oversees foreign trade and investment, attended the talks with Wang.