Potus’ strongarm tactics inspire China netizens

Social media debate erupts over parallels on how Beijing should handle tensions with Taiwan, writes AFP

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President Donald Trump's capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro sparked widespread debate on Chinese social media, with some users saying the operation offered a template for how Beijing could handle tensions with Taiwan.

Mr Trump's operation against the Venezuelan strongman surged to the top of China's Weibo late Saturday, drawing about 440 million views on the X-like platform. Many commentators were quick to compare the fate of the South American nation with that of Taiwan, the self-ruled democracy Beijing has vowed to bring under its control.

"I suggest using the same method to reclaim Taiwan in the future," one user wrote in response to a post that drew more than 700 likes. "Since the US doesn't take international law seriously, why should we care about it?" another said.

"The US imperialists' lightning raid on Venezuela to capture Mr Maduro and his wife provides a perfect blueprint for our military to launch a surprise attack on Frog Island and seize Mr Lai Ching-te," one post read, using a derogatory term for Taiwan. Mr Lai is Taiwan's president.

Taiwan's Foreign Ministry did not respond to a request for comment made outside working hours. China's Foreign Ministry condemned Mr Trump's action, saying late Saturday it was "deeply shocked" by the US military operation and denouncing what it called Washington's "blatant use of force against a sovereign state".