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The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China urged Washington this Tuesday to immediately lift the embargo and sanctions against Cuba, describing them as "unilateral and illegal."
This is the strongest statement from Beijing since the Trump administration escalated its maximum pressure policy against Havana.
The spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry stated that "the United States has further intensified its unilateral and illegal sanctions against Cuba," severely violating "the rights of the Cuban people to survival and development, as well as the basic norms of international relations."
In the same statement, Beijing reaffirmed its support for the regime in Havana: "China firmly supports Cuba in defending its sovereignty and national security, resolutely opposes interference in Cuba's internal affairs, and urges the U.S. side to immediately end the blockade, sanctions against Cuba, and any form of coercive pressure."
The Chinese statements come four days after Donald Trump signed a new executive order titled "Imposition of Sanctions on Those Responsible for Repression in Cuba," based on the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
Trump signed that executive order on May 1 and for the first time introduced secondary sanctions against foreign banks and financial entities that operate with sanctioned Cuban entities, risking their access to the dollar.
The measure also extends restrictions to key sectors such as energy, defense, mining, and financial services, and prohibits the entry into the U.S. of regime officials and their adult family members.
The U.S. also blocked all assets linked to the regime that are under U.S. jurisdiction.
Since January 2026, the Trump administration has imposed over 240 new sanctions against Cuba and intercepted at least seven tankers carrying oil intended for the island, reducing Cuban energy imports by between 80% and 90%.
The Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla responded to the new measures by calling them "illegal and abusive."
Rodríguez warned that "they will not intimidate the Cubans" in a message posted on social media, while Miguel Díaz-Canel referred to them as a "brutal genocidal blockade" and accused Washington of "moral poverty."
China's stance this Tuesday is not new. On April 30, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China had already accused the U.S. of “inventing pretexts and spreading rumors” to justify the embargo, in response to the allegations made by Secretary of State Marco Rubio regarding alleged Chinese intelligence facilities on Cuban soil.
The geopolitical context worsened even further on May 2, when Trump threatened to anchor the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier just 100 yards off the Cuban coast, conditioning the action on the conclusion of military operations in Iran.
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