"China calls on the US to ensure the personal safety of President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, release them at once, stop toppling the government of Venezuela," the Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement, calling the strike a "clear violation of international law".

Maduro was in a New York detention center on Sunday after President Donald Trumpordered an audacious US raid to capture the South American leader and take control of the country and its vast oil reserves.

As part of the dramatic operation early on Saturday that knocked out electricity in parts of Caracas and included strikes on military installations, US Special Forces seized Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, and transported them via helicopter to a US Navy ship offshore before flying them to the US.

The UN Security Council planned to meet Monday to discuss the actions, which Secretary-General Antonio Guterres described as "a dangerous precedent." Russia and China, both major backers of Venezuela, criticized the U.S.

"China firmly opposes such hegemonic behavior by the U.S., which seriously violates international law, violates Venezuela's sovereignty and threatens peace and security in Latin America and the Caribbean," China's foreign ministry said.

Trump's comments about an open-ended military presence in Venezuela echoed the rhetoric around past invasions in Iraq and Afghanistan, both of which ended in American withdrawals after years of costly occupation and thousands of US casualties.

A US occupation "won't cost us a penny" because the United States would be reimbursed from the "money coming out of the ground," Trump said, referring to Venezuela's oil reserves, a subject he returned to repeatedly during Saturday's press conference.

Trump’s focus on foreign affairs provides fuel for Democrats to criticize him ahead of midterm congressional elections in November, when control of both houses of Congress is at stake, with Republicans controlling both by narrow margins.

Opinion polls show the top concern for voters is high prices at home, not foreign policy. 

Trump also runs the risk of alienating some of his own supporters, who have backed his "America First" agenda and oppose foreign interventions.

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