China has made diplomatic inroads in Latin America, where trade concerns have led some countries to cut ties with Taiwan.
The South American nation of Paraguay has expelled a Chinese diplomat based on allegations of “interference in domestic affairs”.
The visa of Xu Wei, the Chinese ambassador, has been revoked, Paraguay’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Thursday. The country gave him 24 hours to leave, declaring him personless.
Xu said he had to choose between relationships with lawmakers Taiwan and China after a surprise performance at Paraguay’s congress.
He was in the country to attend the annual conference of UNESCO, the United Nations organization for international cooperation in culture, science and arts.
“This gentleman had a parallel agenda. They came to do inappropriate internal politics,” said Juan Baiardi, deputy minister of administration and technical affairs at Paraguay’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Paraguay is part of a dwindling number of countries that maintain diplomatic relations with the self-governing island of Taiwan.
China claims Taiwan territory as its ownCountries need to choose between recognizing Taiwan and maintaining relations with its government in Beijing. Only 12 countries choose to recognize Taiwan – and only Paraguay in South America does so.
On Wednesday, Xu skipped a UNESCO meeting and instead met with officials in the Paraguayan capital, Asuncion, where he called on lawmakers to distance themselves from Taiwan and boost ties with China.
“It’s either China or Taiwan,” he said. “I recommend that the Paraguayan government take the right decision as soon as possible.”
Ties with China come with more opportunities for business “along with thousands of other advantages,” Xu said.
Speaking to reporters later, Xu repeated his argument that forging diplomatic ties with China instead of Taiwan would pay economic dividends.
“Currently, there is no direct trade or export from Paraguay to China,” he said. “It is a great shame. Paraguayans are giving their profits to middlemen. But you can gain more from diplomatic relations with China.
Countries like Brazil and Argentina enjoy robust exports of the product Beef And Soybean For China, some members of Paraguay’s Congress have suggested that the switch would be beneficial.
In recent years, several Latin American countries – including HondurasPanama, the Dominican Republic and El Salvador – have cut ties with Taipei in favor of Beijing, whose influence has expanded alongside trade deals that give it lucrative access to its huge markets.
Xu urged Paraguayan officials to choose China over Taiwan, saying the issue was non-negotiable.
“It’s not a choice to choose both China and Taiwan. No, it’s ‘or’. China or Taiwan,” Xu said. “In my case, I recommend that the Paraguayan government take the right decision as soon as possible.”
For its part, Taiwan has reacted angrily Chinese efforts It responded strongly to Xu’s appeal in Paraguay to withdraw its diplomatic recognition abroad.
“They infiltrated Paraguay with an unknown motive to undermine the strong friendship between Paraguay and Taiwan,” the country’s Taiwan embassy said in a social media post.
