Taipei, July 15 (CNA) Visiting Paraguayan President-elect Santiago Pe?a said Saturday that he is “determined” to maintain the existing diplomatic relations with Taiwan during his upcoming five-year tenure, and those bilateral ties will not be compromised by his country’s trade links with China.
“Paraguay is a relatively small country that needs to integrate to the world. We will love to do more trade with the People’s Republic of China (PRC), as we would like to have more trade with any other country,” Pe?a said at a press conference in Taipei at the conclusion of his five-day visit.
He added, however, that Paraguay’s relations with Taiwan are “not subject to any diplomatic limitation” because of its strong trade and economic relations with China.
“If a country says that they are not going to do business with us because we have relations with Taiwan, we will continue our relations with Taiwan, and we will do business with whoever wants [to do business],” Pe?a said.
China has made the severance of ties with the Republic of China (Taiwan) a prerequisite for any country that wishes to establish diplomatic relations with Beijing.
Currently, Paraguay is one of the 13 independent states that maintain diplomatic relations with Taiwan, and it remains the only one in South America, after Uruguay switched diplomatic allegiance from Taipei to Beijing in 1988.
According to Pe?a, Paraguay has not been pressured by any neighboring nations into making a diplomatic switch, as he has made his position clear to them, especially to Brazil, which is his country’s largest trading partner and a strong ally of China.
“I can tell you that I haven’t felt any pressure, and probably they haven’t pressured [me], because they know my position,” he said at the press event, which was also attended by incoming First Lady of Paraguay Leticia Ocampos and Foreign Minister-designate Rub?n Ram?rez Lezcano.
Meanwhile, in response to a reporter’s question, Pe?a said his delegation had not had any specific talks with the Taiwan government about financial aid, and that the two sides would have lots of opportunities to discuss various agendas in the future.
Pe?a arrived in Taiwan on Tuesday, at the head of a delegation that included incoming Presidential Chief Secretary Lea Gim?nez Duarte, Finance Minister-designate Carlos Fern?ndez Valdovinos, and incoming Industry Minister Francisco Javier Gim?nez Garc?a de Z??iga.
During his meeting with President Tsai Ing-wen (???) on Wednesday, Pe?a said he was looking forward to Taiwan’s continued support, as his administration would be striving to reduce poverty and bring about industrial development in the country.
According to Pe?a, his administration’s goals include creating at least 500,000 jobs and rolling out a plan that would allow some 200,000 Paraguayans to get loans to improve their housing over the next five years.
As to what he thinks Taiwan can do to help achieve these goals, Pe?a said Friday he hoped to see more Taiwanese business and financial institutions in Paraguay.
The president-elect, a former economist who served as Paraguay’s finance minister 2015-2017, is scheduled to be sworn in on August 15.
He received nearly 44 percent of the vote in Paraguay’s presidential election in April, winning by a double-digit margin over his main rival Efrain Alegre, who during his election campaign had pledged to switch diplomatic allegiance from Taipei to Beijing.
On Saturday, Pe?a said he did not know “who will be on the [Taiwanese] delegation” to his inauguration in Asunci?n in mid-August.
In June, the Wall Street Journal cited unnamed sources as saying that Vice President Lai Ching-te (???), the Democratic Progressive Party’s 2024 presidential candidate, had been tapped to lead the Taiwan delegation to Pe?a’s inauguration ceremony.
At the time, however, the Presidential Office in Taipei said the vice president “currently does not have any plans to travel overseas.”
