Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin stressed that both nations are good friends of China and reiterated Beijing’s respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries.

According to the Foreign Ministry, the friendly and negotiated settlement “benefits both nations’ citizens and contributes to stability, cooperation, and development in Latin America and the Caribbean.

“Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro announced a series of proposals on Tuesday to materialize the results of Sunday’s consultative referendum, in which the people said yes to the five questions in defense of Guyana’s Essequibo region.

Venezuela and Guyana have had a dispute over Guyana’s Essequibo region for more than a century and a half, which has escalated in recent months after Caracas accused Georgetown of handing over undefined maritime areas to oil transnationals such as Exxon Mobil.

In a resolution last week, the International Court of Justice called on both sides to refrain from any action that could “aggravate or extend the territorial dispute.”

The neighboring country saw Venezuela’s Sunday referendum as a threat.

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