Paraguay canceled the visa of Chinese diplomat Xu Wei for his alleged “interference in internal affairs” and ordered him to leave the country within 24 hours, the Foreign Ministry reported on Thursday.
The Foreign Ministry did not specify Xu’s interference, but Taiwan’s embassy in Paraguay accused the envoy of trying to undermine the relationship between the South American country and the island, whose sovereignty is claimed by China.
The Taiwanese embassy called Xu Wei an “infiltrator in Paraguay for unknown purposes.”
Xu met with two opposition lawmakers at Congress headquarters and said after the meeting that Paraguay, a soybean and beef exporting country, would have more trade advantages if it recognized China over Taiwan.
“Paraguayans are giving away their profits to intermediaries, but with (a) diplomatic relationship with China you can earn more, save more, lower your cost,” he said.
He added that China’s door “is always open” but that Paraguay had to “have courage” and make a decision. “It’s not an ‘and’ option, with China and Taiwan, it’s ‘or’: either China or Taiwan.”
China considers Taiwan to be its own territory without the right to the attributes of a state, while Taipei rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims, stating that only the island can decide its future. Paraguay is Taiwan’s only ally in South America.
The Paraguayan foreign ministry said Xu had arrived in the country as part of a Chinese delegation for a UNESCO meeting, but had violated his visa limits.
“This man had a parallel agenda, he came to make internal politics that did not correspond,” Juan Baiardi, vice minister of Administration and Technical Affairs of the Foreign Ministry, told local radio.
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