Paraguayan envoy reaffirms nation’s ties with TaiwanBy Peng Wan-hsin and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writerParaguayan Ambassador to Taiwan Marcial Bobadilla Guillen yesterday said that his country resolutely opposes the establishment of ties with Beijing, despite increasing pressure from China. Companies in Paraguay have been calling for the government to cut ties with Taipei in favor of Beijing, but “Taiwan, not China, is Paraguay’s friend,” Guillen cited Paraguayan President Mario Abdo Benitez as saying. Benitez hopes Taiwan and Paraguay will continue to deepen that friendship, Guillen said during an inauguration ceremony for the 23-member Republic of China (Taiwan) — Republic of Paraguay Inter-parliamentarian Friendship Association. Paraguay Ambassador to Taiwan Marcial Bobadilla Guillen, center, takes part in a news conference at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday, accompanied by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Wen Yu-hsia, right. By the end of this year, Taiwan would have imported an estimated 20,000 tonnes of Paraguayan beef worth US$100 million, 10 times the amount it imported five years ago, he said.

Source: Taipei Times July 21, 2020 15:56 UTC