Paraguay, one of 12 nations with diplomatic ties to Taiwan, revoked the visa of Xu Wei, who urged the country to choose Beijing over Taipei.
The Paraguay government on Dec. 5 gave a visiting Chinese envoy 24 hours to leave after the communist regime’s diplomat sought to persuade them to abandon their ties with Taiwan.
Paraguay’s foreign ministry said it canceled the visa of Chinese diplomat Xu Wei over “interference in internal affairs,” according to a statement on social media X.
The ministry didn’t elaborate on Xu’s activities, but its officials said that his visa had been granted for a UNESCO meeting, not for stepping into Paraguay’s internal politics.
“This gentleman had a parallel agenda. He came to do internal politics that were not appropriate,” said Juan Baiardi, deputy minister of administration and technical affairs of Paraguay’s Foreign Ministry.
Paraguay’s action comes a day after Xu, the minister counselor of the Department of Latin American and Caribbean Affairs at China’s foreign ministry, called on Paraguay to sever ties with Taiwan, a self-ruled island China claimed to be its own territory.
“There is no ‘and’ option,” Xu told reporters in Spanish after meetings with lawmakers in Paraguay’s capital, Asuncion. “It’s just ‘or.’ China or Taiwan.”
Xu also said economic benefits await Paraguay should it decide to switch its diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to China, urging the government to “make a correct decision as soon as possible.”
In response, Taiwan’s embassy said it “strongly condemned” the Chinese diplomat’s attempts to undermine its “firm friendship” with Paraguay, accusing Xu of infiltrating the nation with “unknown purposes.”
“The Chinese communist regime has not, and will never, represent Taiwan,” the embassy said in a statement on X on Dec. 4, using Spanish and Chinese.
When asked about Paraguay’s decision during a regular briefing in Beijing, China’s foreign ministry denied interfering with the South American country’s affairs.
Lin Jian, the foreign ministry spokesman, called accusations and demands against “relevant members” of the Chinese delegation “unjustified and groundless” while reiterating Beijing’s claims over Taiwan’s sovereignty.
Paraguay is one of 12 nations maintaining formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan. The Chinese Communist Party has sought to isolate the island on the international stage.
Since the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) came to power in 2016, Taiwan has lost 10 diplomatic allies to China, the latest being Nauru, a small Pacific Island nation. The Nauru government’s shift to Beijing occurred just days after Taiwan’s presidential election in January, in which voters chose to keep the DPP in power for another five years.
The Chinese regime views the DPP—which has stated its commitment to peaceful coexistence with its giant neighbor—and its current leader, Lai Ching-te, as “secessionists.” The DPP rejects the notion that Taiwan is part of China, which is an obstruction to the Chinese regime’s goal of seizing the self-ruled island.
On Dec. 6, during his first overseas tour since he took office in May, Lai urged Beijing to abandon its tactics of “coercion and inducement,” calling for a return to normal international exchanges.
“It’s better to open your hands than to clench your fists. Only by doing so can China win respect from the international community,” Lai told a press conference in Palau, one of the 12 nations that recognize Taiwan.
Reuters contributed to this report.