'Stop brandishing judicial stick against Cuba'

China said it supported Cuba and urged the United States to "stop brandishing the judicial stick" against the country, after Washington indicted the Caribbean island's former leader Raúl Castro on murder charges. The US charges against the 94-year-old former president – announced on Wednesday – fuelled speculation that President Donald Trump will try to topple the communist state. "The US side should stop brandishing the sanctions stick and the judicial stick against Cuba and stop threatening force at every turn," Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told a press briefing on Thursday when asked about the US charges. "China firmly supports Cuba in safeguarding its national sovereignty and national dignity and opposes external interference," Guo said. Castro is the younger brother of Fidel Castro, the late influential US nemesis who led Cuba's 1959 communist revolution. The charges against him stem from the downing of two civilian planes manned by anti-Castro pilots in 1996, which resulted in four deaths. Raúl Castro was also charged with conspiracy to kill Americans and destruction of aircraft. Trump hailed the indictment on Wednesday as a "very big moment" but played down prospects of moving on Cuba, whose economy has been in a deepening crisis for months driven by a US oil blockade. (AFP) Edited by Aaron Tam