By AFP and Entorno | 2023-08-21

ASUNCIÓN -- Paraguay's new government will maintain ties with Taiwan, even at the cost of its relationship with China, Foreign Minister Ruben Ramirez told AFP.

Paraguay is the only South American country that recognizes Taiwan diplomatically, and one of just 13 around the world.

China considers self-ruled democratic Taiwan a part of its territory, to be retaken one day.

Under its 'One China' policy, it does not allow countries to recognize both Beijing and Taipei.

"We have no problem relating to mainland China as long as it is without conditions," Ramirez said Friday (August 18), three days after Paraguayan President Santiago Peña was inaugurated.

Beijing's conditions unacceptable

"And China establishes conditions, such as breaking diplomatic relations with Taiwan, and Paraguay does not accept that," added Ramirez, an economist who previously served as foreign minister from 2006 to 2008.

"The relationship with Taiwan is not only based on tradition but on institutional democratic values," he said.

Taiwanese Vice-President William Lai, the frontrunner in the island's presidential election next year and a vocal opponent of Beijing's claims to the island, was present at Peña's inauguration ceremony last Tuesday.

Lai made two stopovers in the United States -- in New York en route to Paraguay and in San Francisco when returning to Taipei -- that enraged Beijing.

Latin America has been a key diplomatic battleground for China and Taiwan since the two split in 1949 after a civil war.

In March, Honduras became the latest country to cut diplomatic ties with Taiwan in favor of Beijing.

Unreliable ally

However, numerous Latin American countries that recognized Beijing diplomatically, hoping for a generous payoff, instead have experienced frustration and disappointment.

Venezuela, which hoped that China would pull it out of a multi-year economic crisis, has seen no such rescue. Instead, Chinese loans have contributed to Venezuela's growing debt burden, which is now estimated to exceed $150 billion. Sino-Venezuelan relations have deteriorated from the complexity of joint projects, the opacity of the Venezuelan government and the corruption rampant in both countries.

In addition, Argentina is investigating a Chinese lithium mining company for allegedly cheating Buenos Aires out of more than $5 million in a shady exchange of currency.