Link to article: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/5/5/paraguay-president-elect-says-will-strengthen-ties-with-taiwan
Paraguay’s recent president elect Santiago Pena has said that he will continue to strenghten ties with Taiwan. In a statement that was endorsed by Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-Wen, and indicated he would not go the other way in forging ties with China and cutting ties with Taiwan. Pena said on Twitter that he would continue to cooperate with Taiwan working on mutually beneficial projects. Pena said that he is also looking forward to meet Tsai Ing-Wen in person and travel to Taiwan. Only 13 countries maintain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, and Paraguay is one of them, and Latin America has seen as distinct shift away from Taiwan and become more friendly with China, except for Paraguay with Honduras becoming the most recent countries to strengthen ties with China.
Officials in Taipei have also accused China of using coercion and intimidation to motivate diplomatic ties which China denies doing. In the run-up to Paraguay’s vote, opposition candidate Efrain Alegre said that he would want to strengthen ties with China in order to boost agricultural ties. Earlier this year, Tsai also visited Belize and Guatemala during a reassurance tour. Leaders of both of the countries reaffirmed their ties during the visit. China continues to gain influence in Latin America through increased trade, investment, and infrastructure projects and have a way to counter the U.S in the Americas. I think it is interesting how Paraguay is one of the only Latin American country to continue to recognize Taiwan even thought most of Latin America is not doing the same. They are willing to do what is necessary and look out for their own national interests even though they may not be necessarily aligned with the interests with the rest of the region.
Paraguay’s interests in recognizing Taiwan as a sovereign state may include economic, political, or other political reasons. A sovereign state is a political entity that has control over its own territory and is recognized as such by other sovereign states. A sovereign state also has the ability to create its own laws, conduct foreign affairs, and defend itself against external threats. Taiwan is not recognized as a sovereign state by a lot of the world because of the “One Child Policy,” and recognizes the People’s Republic of China as the only legitimate government of China and Taiwan is seen as an extension of China.