ASUNCION 鈥 Paraguay is preparing to receive Taiwan鈥檚 President Lai Ching-te next month, President Santiago Pe帽a said on Monday, meaning Mr. Lai will also most likely make sensitive transit stops in the United States bound to infuriate Beijing.
Paraguay is one of only 12 countries to maintain formal diplomatic ties with Chinese-claimed Taiwan, and the only one in South America.
Visits by Taiwanese presidents to Central and South America always involve what are officially only stopovers in the United States given the distance from Taiwan, but are often the most important parts of the trip given Washington is the island鈥檚 top international backer and arms supplier.
Mr. Pe帽a, speaking at a bilateral investment conference in the South American nation鈥檚 capital, said Mr. Lai would be coming next month.
鈥淲e are preparing anxiously and with much affection to receive President Lai in 30 days,鈥 Mr. Pe帽a told the conference, which Mr. Lai鈥檚 Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung also attended.
Belize will also host Mr. Lai during a planned visit to the region, a government official told Reuters, without giving a date.
Taiwan has a handful of other allies in Latin America and the Caribbean, but several have cut ties in recent years in favor of relations with economic powerhouse China, which considers Taiwan to be a Chinese province.
鈥淭his is to show the world that small countries have the capacity to become major global players,鈥 Mr. Pe帽a added.
Taiwan鈥檚 presidential office declined to comment, saying that, as in the past, if it had anything to announce it would do so 鈥渋n due course.鈥 It normally confirms such trips only shortly before they take place.
Mr. Lai has yet to go to the United States since US President Donald J. Trump took office for the second time earlier this year, though late last year Mr. Lai transited Hawaii and the US territory of Guam while visiting the Pacific.
The US State department also did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the possibility of a Mr. Lai transit next month.
China strongly objects to any interactions between Taiwan and the United States and routinely denounces US stopovers of Taiwanese presidents.
Taiwan鈥檚 government rejects China鈥檚 territorial claims and says it has a right to forge ties with other countries and engage with the world. 鈥 Reuters
