China tells U.S. to ‘stop brandishing judicial stick’ against Cuba

Key points

• China said it supported Cuba and urged the United States to “stop brandishing the judicial stick” against the country, after Washington indicted the Caribbean island’s former leader Raul Castro on murder charges.
• The U.S. charges against the 94-year-old former President — announced Wednesday (May 20, 2026) — fuelled speculation that President Donald Trump will try to topple the communist state.
• “The U.S. side should stop brandishing the sanctions stick and the judicial stick against Cuba and stop threatening force at every turn,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told a press briefing Thursday (May 21, 2026), when asked about the U.S. charges.
• “China firmly supports Cuba in safeguarding its national sovereignty and national dignity and opposes external interference,” Mr. Guo said.
• Castro is the younger brother of Fidel Castro, the late influential U.S. nemesis who led Cuba’s 1959 communist revolution.