Guyana, China clash over Venezuelan border claim

Guyana’s government Thursday lashed out at China for daring to suggest that the CARICOM nation should sit down with Venezuela and negotiate a settlement to Venezuela’s decades-old claim to a large swathe of Guyana’s territory, saying China has remained quiet in the face of a number of provocations by its eastern neighbor in recent years.

The unlikely row between Guyana and one of its largest trading and infrastructural development partners, came a day after Deputy Chief of Mission Huang Rui appeared to ignore current hearings for a settlement in the case at the World Court in The Netherlands, suggesting the two should instead opt for “friendly consultations and negotiations.” Trade between the two hovers around $2 billion according to recent figures released by the embassy. Read more