ISTANBUL

Beijing on Wednesday slammed the US move to issue “general licenses,” which exclude China, Russia, North Korea, Iran, and Cuba from trade transactions with Venezuela.

“China firmly opposes setting restrictions on China-Venezuela cooperation by issuing so-called general licenses,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told reporters in Beijing, stressing "safeguarding interests” of the world’s second-largest economy.

The US Treasury, in a waiver Tuesday on US sanctions related to Venezuela, said the new transaction does not involve the processing or refining of Venezuelan-origin minerals, including gold, and also excludes Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, and China.

Instead of the general licenses, Mao said the US should “lift illicit, unilateral sanctions on Venezuela at once, rather than use so-called general licenses to whitewash its moves” to hamper “lawful interests of other parties.”

The Trump administration’s latest move comes after the US forces raided Caracas in January, forcibly taking away Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, along with his wife Cilia Flores, who have been detained in New York over alleged charges, including drug trafficking and weapons-related offenses.

Both have denied the charges.