Paraguayan Ambassador to Taiwan Marcial Bobadilla Guillen yesterday said that his country resolutely opposes the establishment of ties with Beijing, despite increasing pressure from China.
Companies in Paraguay have been calling for the government to cut ties with Taipei in favor of Beijing, but “Taiwan, not China, is Paraguay’s friend,” Guillen cited Paraguayan President Mario Abdo Benitez as saying.
Benitez hopes Taiwan and Paraguay will continue to deepen that friendship, Guillen said during an inauguration ceremony for the 23-member Republic of China (Taiwan) — Republic of Paraguay Inter-parliamentarian Friendship Association.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Wen Yu-hsia (溫玉霞), who launched the association, said she hopes it will be a “bridge between the two countries through which its members can make contributions” to the friendship between the two nations.
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Miguel Tsao (曹立傑), Overseas Community Affairs Council Vice Chairwoman Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青), Legislative Yuan Secretary-General Lin Chih-chia (林志嘉) and KMT Legislator Sandy Yeh (葉毓蘭) also attended the ceremony at the legislature in Taipei.
Despite the two nations’ geographical distance, Paraguay has been an important ally, demonstrated by Taiwan’s donation of 1 million masks and other medical supplies to help Paraguayan medical workers deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, Wen said.
Although Beijing has been trying to coerce Asuncion into switching recognition by pressuring Paraguayan companies, Paraguayans have the right to choose their friends, Guillen said.
Paraguay is Taiwan’s most important ally in South America, and a strong trading partner, Tsao said.
By the end of this year, Taiwan would have imported an estimated 20,000 tonnes of Paraguayan beef worth US$100 million, 10 times the amount it imported five years ago, he said.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday called for greater cooperation between Taiwan, Lithuania and the EU to counter threats to information security, including attacks on undersea cables and other critical infrastructure. In a speech at Vilnius University in the Lithuanian capital, Tsai highlighted recent incidents in which vital undersea cables — essential for cross-border data transmission — were severed in the Taiwan Strait and the Baltic Sea over the past year. Taiwanese authorities suspect Chinese sabotage in the incidents near Taiwan’s waters, while EU leaders have said Russia is the likely culprit behind similar breaches in the Baltic. “Taiwan and our European
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not