Chinese envoy to Colombia promotes bilateral ties as Bogotá clashes with Washington

As US President Donald Trump and Colombian President Gustavo Petro spar over deportations, Beijing’s ambassador underscores good relations

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This image released by the Pentagon shows shackled undocumented migrants preparing to board a C-17 Globemaster III assigned to the 60th Air Mobility Wing for a removal flight at Fort Bliss, Texas, on Thursday. Photo: Department of Defence via AFP

Published: 5:22am, 28 Jan 2025Updated: 7:08am, 28 Jan 2025

China’s envoy to Colombia seemed to take advantage of the weekend’s public dispute between Colombian President Gustavo Petro and US President Donald Trump over immigration and deportation policies to promote Beijing’s good ties with Bogotá.

Zhu Jingyang, who assumed the ambassadorial post in Bogotá in September 2023, told the local newspaper El Tiempo that relations between China and Colombia were “at the best moment” since establishing diplomatic ties 45 years ago.

Ambassador Zhu added that Colombia and China “are global cultural powers” and that the differences between the two countries “far from creating obstacles, bring us closer and enrich us”.

He posted excerpts from the interview on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, over the weekend as the diplomatic crisis between Colombia and the US unfolded.

The dispute began after Petro refused to accept deportation flights from the US returning undocumented Colombian migrants, accusing Washington of treating them “like criminals”. The refusal came after reports of mistreatment by US officials of deportees returned to Brazil and Mexico.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro refused to accept deportation flights from the US. Photo: Reuters

The clash took officials in both Washington and Bogotá by surprise. Colombia had accepted hundreds of deportation flights during the Joe Biden administration, according to Witness at the Border, an advocacy group that tracks flight data.