China backs Cuba against 'external interference' as foreign minister visits Beijing

BEIJING, Feb 5 (Reuters) - ⁠China firmly supports ⁠Cuba ‍in safeguarding national sovereignty and security and "opposes unwarranted interference by external forces", China's foreign minister ‍told his Cuban counterpart on Thursday, as the ​U.S. tightens the screws on the island nation.

Beijing has voiced support ​for the socialist island country after tensions flared last month between the U.S. and Cuba following the U.S. capture of Venezuelan leader ​Nicolas Maduro, long a close ally of Cuba.

"We are willing ... to provide support and assistance to the best ​of our ability," Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, citing "complex and profound changes" ‌in Latin America, told Cuba's Bruno Rodriguez, according to a statement from Wang's ministry.

U.S. President Donald ​Trump has also moved to ⁠block all oil from reaching Cuba, with whom Beijing says it shares a "special friendly relations" ‌as fellow socialist countries run by communist parties.

"Although (we are) on different continents, our hearts have always been closely connected," Liu ‌Haixing, a senior Chinese communist party minister, told Rodriguez in a ‌separate meeting on Wednesday.

China "supports Cuba in opposing foreign interference and blockage", Liu added.

Neither Liu or Wang was quoted as mentioning the U.S. ‍directly in Beijing's official summaries of the meetings.

The Cuban foreign minister's visit also came ⁠amid intensifying rivalry between Washington and Beijing in Latin America, including over the control of key ports near the Panama Canal.

(Reporting by Xiuhao Chen and Ryan Woo; Editing by Bernadette Baum and Alex Richardson)

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