The Chinese Foreign Ministry took a moment on Monday to chastise the government of Paraguay for its longstanding alliance with Taiwan, warning that it’s commitment to the sovereign nation would “lead nowhere.”
Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun implied that any association with the democratically elected Taiwanese government was immoral, demanding Paraguay abide by the “right thing to do” and establish relations with the Chinese Communist Party, instead. Guo was responding to a question from a Chinese propaganda news service in response to a Paraguayan lawmaker advocating for the abandonment of Taiwan.
The timing of the question is notable, however, not primarily because of Paraguay’s relationship with Taiwan, which is 67 years old, or because of the lawmaker’s comments. Paraguayan First Vice President of the Chamber of Deputies Hugo Meza visited China this summer, for example, eliciting much less fanfare from Beijing than he did for repeating his usual complaints that Asunción was “wasting time” honoring its alliance with Taiwan.
Paraguay has elevated its geopolitical profile tremendously in the past year, in part due to conservative President Santiago Peña’s effort to fortify his country’s ties to the United States following the re-election of President Donald Trump. Peña has been one of the most prominent conservative voices on his continent, both opposing Chinese communism and condemning leftist violence throughout the hemisphere. While Paraguay is not an especially large or populous country, Peña’s position as a leading conservative resulted in President Trump inviting him to attend last week’s summit on peace in Gaza in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, the only Latin American leader thus honored.
Guo, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, kept his comments condemning Paraguay on Monday only focused on its relationship with Taiwan.
Maintaining so-called ‘diplomatic ties’ with Taiwan authorities will lead nowhere,” Guo huffed. “Upholding the one-China principle is the right thing to do. … We urge the governments of the very few individual countries, including Paraguay, to see the true picture, listen to the voice of the visionaries, not to turn a blind eye to the will of the people, and make the right political decision at an early date that serves the fundamental and long-term interests of their people.”
The “One-China Principle” is the Communist Party’s false claim that Taiwan is a province of China, rightfully belonging under the iron fist of the Communist Party in Beijing. In reality, the Taiwanese government is entirely sovereign and has been for decades, with no political ties to Beijing. The island of Taiwan has never been governed by a government headquartered in Beijing, even before the founding of the “people’s republic.”
Guo leveraged comments by Meza, the Paraguayan lawmaker, to pressure the Peña government to consider an alliance with China. As part of the “One-China Principle,” Beijing refuses to have any diplomatic ties to governments that legally recognize the Taiwanese state. As a result, China does not invest in Paraguay – an outlier on a continent where the Communist Party has indebted neighboring countries heavily through the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
The comments Guo was responding to appeared to be related to a visit to Beijing Meza made in July. Following his return, the lawmaker insisted that Paraguay was hurting itself financially by not allowing itself to become dependent on Chinese investment.
“Imagine if we could attract at least one percent of the investment that China makes in this region,” he said at the time. “We are talking about over $6 billion in investment and cooperation.”
“I think we should stop being a beggar country, I think we should tell Taiwan, in any case, to improve its capacity to install corporations and change its model,” he then added.
Meza has complained that Paraguay’s alliance with Taiwan is “wasting time.”
A delegation of eight Paraguayan lawmakers is currently in Beijing, Paraguayan media reported on Monday – a fact bizarrely omitted by the Chinese Foreign Minister.
Peña has made clear in recent public statements that his administration is not considering abandoning Taiwan. During his address to the United Nations General Assembly in September, Peña described supporting Taiwan as a moral imperative for his country.
“Paraguay has maintained with pride 67 years of diplomatic relations with the Republic of China – Taiwan,” he explained. “Surely, this decision costs us much economically, but believe me: the value of doing the right thing has no price.”
“It must be said without being lukewarm or spineless: Taiwan deserves a place in this forum,” he continued. “It is a question of strict justice. Its exclusion from the United Nations system is an affront that weakens the legitimacy of our institutions.”
Peña asserted that supporting Taiwan “gives Paraguay something that is relatively scarce in these days: genuine moral authority to discuss the problems that assail us.”
In addition to cooperating Taiwan, which the United States supports, Peña has sought out a deeper relationship with the Trump administration, reversing the trend in Latin America during the years of former President Joe Biden of states inviting the Chinese Communist Party to exert greater influence in the region. In August, Paraguay signed a “Safe Third Country” agreement with the United States, which would allow asylum seekers looking to enter the United States to instead seek safe harbor in Paraguay. Secretary of State Marco Rubio applauded the Paraguayan government at the time for helping in “combating illegal immigration and partnering to create a more secure hemisphere.”
Peña appeared as an enthusiastic supporter of the President Trump last week during the Gaza peace summit, the only representative of his continent at the event. Peña’s presence there caused such commotion in his home country that rumors began to spread that he had attended the event uninvited, prompting the Paraguayan presidential office to publish the invitation from President Trump.
“It was truly a unique opportunity for Paraguay to really shine, to really share in this unique setting and, of course, to uphold the great name of the Republic of Paraguay and all Paraguayans,” Peña said of the event.
“It was a great honor for me as a Paraguayan to represent our beloved Paraguay at this unique event on the world stage of international relations and, of course, in the search for peace.”
Follow Frances Martel on Facebook and Twitter.
Read the full article here