Paraguayan President Santiago Pena has pledged to continue enhancing cooperation with Taiwan, as he and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida expressed opposition to any unilateral change to the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait using force, Japanese media reported on Saturday.
Kishida yesterday completed a trip to France, Brazil and Paraguay, his first visit to South America since taking office in 2021.
After the Japanese leader and Pena spoke for more than an hour on Friday, exchanging views on the situation in East Asia in the face of China’s increasing military pressure on Taiwan, they affirmed that “unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force will not be tolerated,” the Yomiuri Shimbun reported.
Photo courtesy of the Presidential Office
Pena mentioned Taiwan during a joint news conference after their meeting.
“We have a long diplomatic relationship with Taiwan. We would like to continue to promote a wide-ranging cooperative partnership,” the Fuji News Network quoted Pena as saying.
The leaders agreed to work together to maintain and bolster a free and open international order, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported.
The importance of relations between Japan and Paraguay, which shares its values of freedom, democracy and the rule of law, is increasing as the international community faces a number of crises, the paper quoted Kishida as saying.
The Paraguayan president also reaffirmed robust ties with Taiwan during an interview with the Yomiuri Shimbun on Thursday, saying that the South American country’s stance on Taiwan is unwavering.
He also said that the firmer his country is on maintaining relations with Taiwan, the more pressure it receives from other countries to break those ties.
For example, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva repeatedly suggested that Asuncion establish diplomatic relations with Beijing, he said.
During Paraguay’s presidential election last year, opposition candidates called for diplomatic ties with Taiwan to be severed, he said.
Some of the strongest opposition came from the domestic agricultural sector, as despite being a major exporter of soybeans and beef, Paraguay is unable to export beef to China and has to rely on third-party countries such as Argentina to export soybeans, he said.
Paraguay’s relationships with Japan and the US should serve as a backup force to help the country withstand pressure from home and abroad to switch recognition from Taipei to Beijing, Pena said.
“Supporting Paraguay is supporting Taiwan,” he added.
He said he hopes to prove that maintaining diplomatic relations with Taiwan is in the interest of his country, which can serve as an example for other countries to follow.
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