China condemns new US sanctions on Cuba as illegal

Beijing’s denunciation of the latest Cuba sanctions did more than echo Havana. By calling the new U.S. measures “illegal” on May 5, 2026, China signaled that it is willing to push back publicly on Washington’s pressure campaign and stand with Cuba as the sanctions fight widens beyond the island.

China’s Foreign Ministry said the United States should immediately end its embargo and sanctions on Cuba, arguing that the expanded measures “seriously violated” the norms of international relations. A ministry spokesperson said the intensification of “illicit and unilateral sanctions” gravely infringed on the Cuban people’s right to subsistence and development, while Beijing reaffirmed support for Cuba’s efforts to safeguard its national sovereignty and security and oppose interference in its internal affairs.

The statement landed four days after President Donald Trump signed Executive Order 14404 on May 1, 2026. Titled “Imposing Sanctions on Those Responsible for Repression in Cuba and for Threats to United States National Security and Foreign Policy,” the order broadened the U.S. sanctions framework against the Cuban government and its allies. The State Department then designated Grupo de Administración Empresarial S.A. (GAESA), the military-linked conglomerate that sits at the center of Cuba’s state enterprise system, under the new regime for operating in the financial services sector of the Cuban economy. The new framework also raises exposure for foreign financial institutions and other foreign persons dealing in targeted Cuban sectors.

Havana answered in kind. Cuba’s foreign minister, Bruno Rodriguez, called the U.S. measures “collective punishment” on May 1 and said Cubans would not be intimidated. Cuban officials have also cast the policy as unilateral coercive action that violates the U.N. Charter, keeping the argument focused not just on economics, but on legality and sovereignty.

The timing matters because the U.N. General Assembly had already delivered another warning to Washington. On October 29, 2025, it adopted a resolution for the 33rd consecutive year calling for an end to the U.S. embargo on Cuba, with 165 countries in favor, seven against and 12 abstentions. China’s fresh intervention suggests more than rhetorical alignment with Havana: it is another move in a broader effort to challenge U.S. sanctions policy, keep Cuba’s isolation contested at the diplomatic level and deepen Beijing’s political footprint in the Caribbean as the pressure campaign intensifies.