The former White House adviser’s remarks about plotting coups were “revealing,” Beijing says
FILE PHOTO: A soldier raises the Chinese flag in Beijing, China, May 2022. © VCG / Getty Images
The admission of former White House adviser John Bolton about plotting coups abroad serves as another testament to how Washington meddles in other countries’ affairs around the globe, the Chinese Foreign Ministry has said.
Spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Monday that “overthrowing foreign governments is deep in the bones of how the US conducts its foreign policy.”
“Bolton’s admission is so revealing,” he told reporters during a regular press briefing. “Leading US politicians trumpet the so-called ‘rules-based international order’ for one purpose: to ensure that the US can easily interfere in other countries’ affairs and overthrow their governments at its own will.”
“This is exactly the kind of ‘rules’ and ‘order’ that people like Bolton want absolutely to defend. The people of the world, however, will not let them,” Wang said.
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Bolton, a veteran White House official who served as national security adviser in 2018 and 2019, unexpectedly admitted to having “helped plan coups d’etat” abroad during an interview on CNN last week.
Bolton and host Jake Tapper were discussing the storming of the US Capitol building in Washington, DC by supporters of former President Donald Trump, whom Democrats are now accusing of a coup attempt.
Wang said that Bolton’s words were, nevertheless, emblematic of how the US behaves on the world stage. “The US’ acts of regime change remain unchecked even after the end of the Cold War. For years, the US has created political unrest in Latin America, played a part in the Arab Spring, and instigated color revolutions in Europe and Asia,” the Chinese diplomat said.
On Thursday, Venezuela’s parliament voted to condemn Bolton’s remarks. Parliament speaker Jorge Rodriguez described Bolton’s words as “an extraordinary feat of brazenness.” Caracas has accused the US of attempting to overthrow the Venezuelan government in 2020. Washington denies the allegations.
