By Mei Mei ChuBeijing — China said on Thursday it firmly opposes the US “abusing judicial means” and pressuring Cuba after Washington charged former Cuban president Raul Castro with murder.“The US should cease using sanctions and judicial apparatus as tools of oppression against Cuba and refrain from making threats of force at any time,” spokesperson Guo Jiakun told reporters at a regular press briefing on Thursday.Late yesterday, the US announced murder charges against former Cuban president Raúl Castro, a major escalation in Washington’s pressure campaign against the island’s communist government. The indictment marks a new low in relations between the long-time Cold War rivals and comes as US President Donald Trump is pushing for regime change in Cuba, where Castro’s communists have been in charge since his late brother Fidel Castro led a revolution in 1959.The charges against Castro and five fighter pilots in the Cuban military stem from a 1996 incident in which Cuban jets shot down planes operated by a group of Cuban exiles.Raúl Castro, 94, was charged with one count of conspiracy to kill US nationals, four counts of murder, and two counts of destruction of aircraft. He appeared in public in Cuba earlier this month, and there is no evidence he has left the island or that he will be extradited.It is rare for the US to file criminal charges against foreign leaders. The indictment was the latest example of the Trump administration’s aggressive efforts to expand US influence in the western hemisphere.“From the shores of Havana to the banks of the Panama Canal, we will drive out the forces of lawlessness and crime and foreign encroachment,” Trump said at a Coast Guard Academy event in New London, Connecticut, earlier on Wednesday.Speaking at a ceremony in Miami to honour the victims of the 1996 incident, acting attorney-general Todd Blanche did not directly answer questions about whether the US military would arrest Castro.Blanche said he expected Castro to one day face the charges.“There was a warrant issued for his arrest, so we expect that he will show up here by his own will or by another way,” Blanche said to applause in a packed auditorium of government officials and Cuban Americans. In a post on X, President Miguel Diaz-Canel said Cuba had acted legitimately to defend its territory in shooting down the planes. He said the indictment appeared to be intended to justify military action against Cuba, which he said would be a mistake.“It is a political manoeuvre, devoid of any legal foundation,” Diaz-Canel said.Diaz-Canel said on Monday that the island does not represent a threat.Reuters