MOFA denies relations with Paraguay shaky

A report in yesterday’s China Times quoted Paraguay President Nicanor Duarte Frutos as declaring that Paraguay foreign policy needed to be overhauled and that he would not rule out the possibility of switching diplomatic relations with Beijing out of economic interests.

“I have checked this with our embassy in Paraguay and this is wrong,” Shih said yesterday.

The China Times report claimed Paraguay’s giant neighbor, Brazil, was placing pressure on the nation to break diplomatic links with Taiwan.

Paraguay belongs to a South American trading bloc, the Southern Common Market, along with Brazil and two other nations, and is the only one in the group to have diplomatic relations with Taiwan.

The China Times claimed Paraguay’s relationship with Taiwan was blocking this group from signing a free trade agreement with China. Brazil was clearly placing pressure on its smaller neighbor, the report said, taxing Paraguay exports that passed through Brazil.

Shih told local reporters yesterday that Taiwan’s embassy in Paraguay had confirmed Duarte Frutos made comments about overhauling his nation’s foreign relations in the interest of improving its markets and making it attractive to investors at the Paraguay airport after a tour of Mexico and Asia, as the paper described.

However, Shih said embassy reports said the president never mentioned the possibility of switching relations to Beijing, as the China Times claimed.

Instead, Shih told local media, Duarte Frutos wanted to sign a free trade agreement with Taiwan within a year, which will make it easier for Paraguay products to enter the Taiwan market, giving the South American country assistance in areas such as agricultural exports,

The paper also quoted Duarte Frutos as saying issues relating to Paraguay’s establishing business or diplomatic links with the PRC were still unresolved and relations with Taiwan depended on its ability to create employment opportunities for Paraguayans.

Shih said relations with Paraguay were solid and he believed this part of the report also to be wrong.

“The embassy report did not mention this but to be absolutely sure I will check it and call the embassy again,” he said.

Taiwan only has a little over a score of formal diplomatic allies, with most countries preferring to recognize Communist rival China. Paraguay is the only South American country to have diplomatic relations with Taiwan.

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