Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told a regular news briefing in Beijing that Castro was a “highly respected Cuban leader” held in “high esteem” internationally, Anadolu Agency reported.

Mao said Beijing had noted that Cuba’s president and foreign minister condemned the US action as a “despicable political farce.”

“We stand against abusing judicial means and exerting pressure on Cuba, and firmly support Cuba in safeguarding its national sovereignty and opposing external interference,” she said.

She urged Washington to immediately end its blockade and other coercive measures against Cuba and stop infringing on the Cuban people’s rights to survival and development.

The remarks followed a Florida court’s issuance of an arrest warrant against Castro, 95, over the 1996 shootdown of two civilian aircraft operated by Brothers to the Rescue, a Miami-based Cuban exile group.

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced Monday that Castro faced a charge of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder over the incident, which killed four people.

Castro, who governed Cuba from 2008 to 2018, was also indicted by US federal authorities in May over the same incident.