Venezuelan President showcases Xi Jinping's gift amid growing tension with US

Caracas [Venezuela], August 24 : Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Saturday (Local time) highlighted his growing ties with China while taking a veiled swipe at the United States, which has recently escalated pressure on his government, CNN reported.

During the closing ceremony of the 'First Pedagogical Congress of Bolivarian Teachers', Maduro interrupted his remarks on education to show off a new smartphone that he said was personally gifted to him by Chinese President Xi Jinping.

As reported by CNN, Maduro said he communicated with Xi through that new phone by satellite.

"You want to learn something, you look for a tutorial. I want to learn how to use that camera that the cameraman has there, you put 'camera tutorial such-and-such.' I want to learn how to handle this new Huawei phone (China's flagship brand in mobile devices), which is the most advanced in the world... This was given to me by President Xi Jinping, of China, I have it here. I communicate by satellite with him," Maduro commented at the closing event.

"Ni hao, ni hao (hello). Xiexie, xiexie (thank you)," the Venezuelan president immediately added while pretending to have a phone call in Mandarin.

The move was more than symbolic, as Venezuela continues to underline its closeness with Beijing amid deteriorating relations with Washington.

Earlier this week, Maduro met Chinese Ambassador Lan Hu and hailed "progress this year in our mutual cooperation with sister China, especially in economy, science, technology and artificial intelligence projects."

Last year, on the sidelines of the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Venezuela, Hu criticised "unilateral coercive measures" of the US.

"China and Venezuela are united in defending the rights and interests of developing countries in the face of US unilateral coercive measures, so as to build a more just and equitable multipolar world, based on mutual respect," Hu said.

According to CNN, the Trump administration recently doubled the bounty on Maduro to USD 50 million, accusing him of leading the Cartel of the Suns, which Washington has now designated as a terrorist organisation. The Venezuelan government has rejected the allegations, which date back to 2020, as politically motivated.

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