Pressures rise for Paraguay move from Taiwan to China

Subject

Paraguay’s China-Taiwan relations.

Significance

The Paraguayan Association of Meat Producers and Exporters (APPEC) has called on the government of President Mario Abdo Benitez to find a way to enable them to export to China, raising the prospect of switching diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China. This has provoked a hostile response from the local organisation United for Taiwan, which accused China of blackmail and said that existing ties of friendship with Taiwan should supersede purely commercial considerations.

Impacts

• Business and political interests will come into increasing conflict over Taiwan relations.
• Chinese companies will continue to expand in the Paraguayan market.
• Exporters will find other ways of re-routing goods to China, but at a cost to profit margins.