China to help Cuba with solar energy amid US oil blockade and total power outage

China is offering solar energy to Cuba, an old ally left without power amid the US oil embargo, in a show of strength for Chinese renewable-energy credentials and a sign of Beijing’s economic footprint in Latin America.Beijing’s ambassador to Cuba, Hua Xin, on Monday outlined joint energy projects in progress as part of an effort to ease a “complex power situation” in the Caribbean nation, the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.“China has always maintained that Latin America and the Caribbean are one big family of sovereign, independent countries and in no way can be the backyard of any country,” Hua told a news conference in Cuba, according to the ministry’s website.Cuban media outlet CiberCuba quoted the ambassador saying Beijing will “intensify its support to Havana” through new energy projects, with a particular focus on developing renewable sources such as solar.US President Donald Trump pledged on Monday to “take” Cuba, an island nation of around 10.9 million people, amid a total power blackout triggered by a shutdown of the national grid and linked to an oil embargo imposed by Washington.Donors from China have already given 5,000 “household” solar energy equipment sets for installation at three Cuban clinics and a home for the elderly, Chinese official news agency Xinhua said on Thursday.China has also helped Cuba develop 49 new “solar parks” with more on the way by 2028, according to the International Action Centre, a US-based advocacy group. It said solar power production had grown from 5.8 per cent of total energy generation early last year to more than 20 per cent this month.