The Chinese government regretted Wednesday the cancellation of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) annual meeting, which was to be held this week in the Chinese city of Chengdu, and accused a "certain country" of politicizing the event.
"The responsibility [of the meeting cancellation] does not fall on the Chinese side. We regret the cancellation, but most members agree with our position that this event is about friendly cooperation and should not be politicized, and everyone knows who has really obstructed it," the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said.
The United States, which is the IDB majority shareholder, asserted its influence last Friday to cancel the annual meeting, after Beijing refused to grant a visa to Ricardo Hausmann, a Harvard professor who was Minister of Planning for President Carlos Andres Perez administration (1989-1993) and member of the Central Bank of Venezuela in the 1990s.
This Venezuelan economist has been appointed as Venezuelan delegate to the IDB by the opposition congressman Juan Guaido.
The Chinese official also recalled that IDB country members should not ignore the "principles and purposes" of the annual assembly.
"They asked for and forced the participation of Guaido's representatives, which is the last thing China wants to see," Geng said, adding that the Chinese cooperation with Latin America and the IDB "will not be obstructed."
China's Foreign Minister spokesman was clear enough to convey a message of non-intervention in other countries’ internal affairs. "Latin America does not belong to any country nor is the backyard of any of them," he warned.
The IDB canceled the holding of its annual meeting, although the bank was given a 30-day period to "submit recommendations" on a new date and venue for its annual meeting.
The Hausmann affaire is the latest in a series of commercial disagreements between the U.S. and China, two countries which have been locked in a trade war fostered by President Donald Trump.