Link to Article: https://apnews.com/article/china-taiwan-sanctions-belize-paraguay-9e034184490a60a9905aea9e437daf1e
On Monday China sanctioned the communications minister in Paraguay and Belize’s foreign minister due to their ties with Taiwan, being among the last 12 remaining diplomatic allies of the island, with Beijing’s increase in their military prompting other countries to switch their allegiance from Taiwan. China claims these sanctions are to protect their own interests and international security, as well as to oppose Taiwanese independence from mainland China. Claims from Chinese officials regarding Gustavo Villate from Paraguay and Francis Fonseca from Belize and other numerous politicians “serving as pawns for the Taiwanese authorities” and seeking Taiwanese independence from external forces, and spreading disinformation about China to smear their image. The sanctions imposed are mostly paper tigers as diplomats from Paraguay and Belize usually do not travel to China. No reaction from these threats has been reported, though the US has criticized China for their actions.
This article is important because it shows the possibility of interdependence between 2 countries even though they are across the globe from each other, and how much globalization plays into our lives. China has rapidly exported their Electric Vehicles into South America for profit and to expand their markets. It also shows the overall increasing tensions within East Asia, especially between China and Taiwan. What this means for the region is either furthering from Chinese Electric Vehicles, or furthering from Taiwan which seems to be the case for countries due to the effectiveness of their vehicles. This happened due to the increasing tension between the Republic of China and the People’s Republic over the Chinese Civil war and the lasting impact. The People’s Republic is trying to stomp out any independence of Taiwan.
Stakeholders could respond by either siding with Taiwan, and the broader net of countries sided with the US and look to them for potential partnerships if China were to ever retract their imports. Another response could be Paraguay and Belize to retract their statements and opinions on Taiwan to continue good relations and continue cheap Chinese imports for greater economic success. Taiwanese and Chinese stakeholders will probably not respond by any drastic measures as the rivalry between them is already far greater, these sanctions will not heavily influence their opinions on each other, it just provides even more reason for either Taiwanese independence or complete Chinese annexation.
This is related to the concept of polarity, China and other countries such as Russia have been trying to further themselves from western, mainly US, unipolarity in the world. China is threatening other countries with sanctions to secure their personal interests and their expansion. If Taiwan were to gain globally recognized independence, they would likely allow US military bases and other NATO countries in their borders to prevent Chinese aggression, further establishing a border between western and Chinese spheres of influence between Japan, South Korea, and the Philippines, therefore, securing US unipolarity across the globe and shutting down Chinese expansion and influence over their surrounding regions.