The Chancellery of taiwan congratulated this Monday the candidate of the ruling Colorado Party, santiago penafor his victory in the elections of Paraguay, one of the 13 countries that still maintain official relations with the island.
In a statement published on its website, the Foreign Ministry explained that the Taiwanese ambassador to the South American country, Han Chih-Cheng, “has already congratulated on behalf of Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen”, to Peña and his running mate for the Vice Presidency of the Republic, Pedro Alliana.
The island Foreign Ministry added that Taiwan “will continue to deepen cooperation and exchanges with the new Paraguayan government” on a “base of shared values of democracy and freedom” with the purpose of “creating the greatest benefits for the peoples of both countries.”
The continuity of diplomatic relations between Asunción and Taipei was one of the issues of the South American country’s elections since the candidate Efraín Alegre had assured that the current relationship with Taiwan is “insufficient” and promised to “solve” it if he wins the elections. .
Taiwanese Vice Foreign Minister Alexander Yui stated last April that China was doing everything possible to “wrest” Taiwan Paraguay as a diplomatic ally.
During the campaign, Alegre had advocated for a reconsideration of the ties with his island. “Paraguay renounces having relations with China to have them with Taiwan. In other words, we gave up one of the largest markets in the world,” said the opposition candidate, for whom Taipei “is not making the same effort in return.”
“The first decree is to appoint the ministers; The second is to establish diplomatic relations with mainland China, ”Alegre had anticipated, making it clear how high-priority the issue was on his agenda if he won the vote.
Peña became the president-elect of Paraguay this Sunday, with 42.93% over the liberal opposition Alegre (27.52%), according to the provisional results of the Superior Court of Electoral Justice.
On March 26, Honduras broke its bilateral ties with Taiwan to establish them with China, which reduced to 13 the number of countries with which Taipei maintains official diplomatic relations.
The Tegucigalpa decision also made Honduras the ninth country – and the fifth Latin American country – that since 2016 has cut with the island to ally with China, thus joining Panama, El Salvador, the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua, among others.
To establish official diplomatic relations, China demands the severance of all ties with Taiwan, a territory that the Asian giant has claimed as a rebel province since the Kuomintang nationalists withdrew from the island in 1949 after losing the civil war against the communist army.
(With information from EFE)
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Source-www.infobae.com