Is the Crisis in Venezuela a "Setback" for China? Eric Olander on Sinica with Kaiser Kuo

In this special bonus episode, Eric speaks with Kaiser Kuo, host of the popular Sinica Podcast, about China's response to the U.S. military intervention in Venezuela and the capture of President Nicolas Maduro.

Many U.S. and European analysts have framed Maduro's downfall as a "setback" or even an "embarrassment" for Beijing, but while that may be true, Eric argues that it's also premature to make such declarations less than a week after Maduro's downfall. After all, U.S.-led military interventions in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya all started well but ended up being very costly failures for Washington.

📌 Topics covered include:

China’s reaction to Maduro’s detention
Why “China setback” claims may be premature
Beijing’s messaging vs. Chinese social media
Why Venezuela ≠ Taiwan
China’s economic exposure in Venezuela
The rise and fall of oil-backed loans
What “all-weather partnership” really means
Panama Canal risks for China
Limits of U.S. hemispheric leverage
China’s Latin America knowledge gap
Beijing’s coup-response playbook
Military lessons—and misreadings
Instability as a threat to China’s trade model
What signals to watch next
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