Beijing sanctions Paraguayan and Belizean ministers over support for Taiwan

Beijing on Monday sanctioned Paraguayan and Belizean government ministers over the Taiwan issue, after the two nations sealed deals with Taipei in recent months.

Gustavo Villate, Paraguay’s minister of information and communication technologies, and Francis Fonseca, Belize’s minister of foreign affairs, foreign trade, education, culture, science and technology were sanctioned, effective from Monday, the foreign ministry said, citing China’s anti-foreign sanction law.

The measures include freezing their assets within China, prohibiting Chinese entities and individuals from transacting or cooperating with the pair, and denying them entry to China, including to Hong Kong and Macau, it added.

The two ministers were accused of “obstinately supporting … so-called ‘diplomatic ties’ with China’s Taiwan region” out of “self-interest” in recent years, the foreign ministry said in two separate statements on Monday morning.

The sanctions aimed to “safeguard national sovereignty, security and development interests, and to oppose separatist activities”, the statements added.

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Belize and Paraguay are among the 12 countries that currently maintain diplomatic relations with Taiwan.

Beijing views Taiwan as part of China to be reunited by force if necessary. Most countries, including the United States, do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state, but Washington is opposed to any attempt to take the self-ruled island by force and is committed to supplying it with weapons.

In late September, Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung visited Belize and met with Fonseca. The two sides signed a bilateral agreement on diplomatic training to improve the professional development of Belize’s foreign service sector.

Taiwan plans to invest in a US$200 million data centre in Paraguay, which is expected to be operational by the end of 2027. Villate praised the plan in May, saying he hoped to use this project to build Paraguay into a regional technology hub. The country is Taiwan’s only ally in South America.

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On Saturday, when delivering his annual Double Tenth address marking the anniversary of the foundation of the Republic of China, Taiwan’s official name, Taiwanese leader William Lai Ching-te highlighted the island’s diplomatic progress.

Lai’s speech incited cross-strait confrontation and undermined peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, said Zhang Han, a spokeswoman for the mainland’s Taiwan Affairs Office.

She said Beijing would resolutely crack down on separatist forces and oppose interference by external forces.