Conservative President of Paraguay Santiago Peña on Thursday reiterated the importance of his country’s partnership and cooperation with Taiwan during his official visit to Taipei amid the Chinese communist regime’s persistent pressure to have Paraguay ditch Taiwan.
Peña is conducting a state visit to Taipei and met with Taiwanese Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung hours after arriving in Taipei. He is scheduled to meet with President Lai Ching-te on Friday.
Paraguay is one of 12 countries — and the only one in South America — that currently maintains full diplomatic ties with Taiwan and recognizes it as a sovereign country. Peña detailed on social media that the agenda of his official visit to the Asian nation seeks to strengthen the strategic partnership between the two countries.
“Taiwan is a key partner for Paraguay, and every meeting is an opportunity to translate that friendship into tangible results for our citizens,” Peña wrote.
After meeting with Foreign Minister Lin, President Peña said that both countries share similarities, particularly in light of the economic performance of the countries within the global context, which the Paraguayan president said “shows that our model, that our vision of development has a common vision.”
Peña, noting the friendly ties between the countries, affirmed that Paraguay will “represent” Taiwan at the upcoming FIFA World Cup — a proposal that, he reportedly said will formally present to President Lai. The Taiwanese embassy in Paraguay stated that all of Taiwan will be rooting for Paraguay at the upcoming soccer tournament.
“Hello! On behalf of President Lai Ching-te and the people of Taiwan, I welcomed President Santiago Peña and his delegation on the early morning hours,” Lin wrote on a social media post in Spanish. “We value our friendship with Paraguay and look forward to deepening our cooperation in trade, education, technology, and smart transportation.”
Speaking with Taiwan’s Central News Agency (CNA) on Thursday, President Peña called for new investment opportunities for Taiwanese companies into his country, touting his nation’s economic performance and political stability while pointing out that Paraguay, the only country in the region with ties to Taiwan, is outperforming his neighbors, which turns the country into a potential point of expansion for the Latin American market.
“My objective is to convince the Taiwanese business community that Paraguay is a great place to do business, and that has absolutely nothing to do with diplomatic relations,” Peña said, and added, “There is no better place for doing business in Latin America than Paraguay.”
For decades, Paraguay has resisted the Chinese regime’s pressure to cut its nearly six-decades old ties with Taiwan and embrace the Chinese Communist Party’s “One-China Principle,” which states that there is only one China in the world and Taiwan is a “province” of China.
Last year, speaking at the United Nations General Assembly, Peña urged the United Nations to finally grant Taiwan a membership spot in the organization, a request that the conservative President deemed a matter of “strict justice.” Peña stressed at the time that maintaining relations with Taiwan, though it translates to financial losses over not embracing China, confers the “priceless” value of “doing the right thing.”
Asked by the Spanish news agency EFE for comment on Peña’s visit to Taipei, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian once again urged Paraguay to “come to the right side of history” and embrace communist China’s “one-China” principle and sever all ties with Taiwan.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.