Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Beijing cannot accept any country acting as the “world’s judge” after the United States captured Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro.
The world’s second-largest economy has provided Venezuela with an economic lifeline since the U.S. and its allies ramped up sanctions in 2017, purchasing roughly $1.6 billion worth of goods in 2024, the most recent full-year data available.
Almost half of China’s purchases were crude oil, customs data shows, while its state-owned oil giants had invested around $4.6 billion in Venezuela by 2018, according to data from the American Enterprise Institute think tank, which tracks Chinese overseas corporate investment.
I think I know what you’re talking about! The people who pretend to be “far-left”, socialist or communist but for some bizarre reason they keep supporting Russia.
I had an experience with one of those people recently. I asked one of those people point blank do you support Trump and they completely dogged the question. Clicking on profiles of these types of people I notice they also never denounce Trump or Republicans or do so very rarely.
I actually deeply regretfully used to be somewhat of a Trump supporter so now I’m very sensitive to people who may be secretly Trump supporters or those who have similar characteristics. Those “tankie” type people really peg my MAGA-meter. It’s almost like when someone has an abusive ex they tend to notice certain things more afterwards (I wish I could word this sentence better but hopefully people can understand).
Ultimately what makes tankies and MAGA similar even if they are not secretly supporting Trump or a bot is belief persistence when there is contrary and reputable evidence and belief in conspiracy theories. Part of what helped me escape MAGA is media literacy and realizing that if someone presents reputable information that contradicts what I believe, I should change my beliefs not plug my ears and regurgitate conspiracy theories based on some random comment like a screenshot of a screenshot of a 4chan post or just saying nonsense like “I don’t trust the MSM”.