US, Taiwan In A Tight Spot Over Latin America’s Betrayal

The ever-changing geo-political scenario is a witness to old friendships turning sour and new alliances being formed. From the latest turn of events, it seems that Paraguay will switch loyalties from Taiwan to China.

Taiwan’s Dilemma

In view of the upcoming elections in the country, if the opposition in Paraguay manages to become the ruling party, Taiwan will lose a supporter since the candidate for the Concertacion coalition as well as president of the Partido Liberal Radical Autentico (PLRA), Efrain Alegre, had declared his intentions to reconsider Paraguay’s relations with Taiwan. He also revealed his plans to analyse the possibilities offered by the People’s Republic of China if elected.

Hence, this election could decide the fate of Taiwan’s presence in South America, since only seven countries in the continent stand in opposition to the Chinese threat to Taiwan’s sovereignty.

The former advisor to the ex-president of the United States Barack Obama, now the director of the Latin America program at the Wilson Center think tank in Washington, feels “Paraguay is clearly up for grabs”. The U.S. has become wary of China’s growing presence in its neighbourhood ever since Taiwan is facing diplomatic losses in the region.

The China-Taiwan Conflict

While Taiwan is losing support rather hastily, it has stated that it does not wish to compete head-to-head in Latin America against a far-richer China based on “chequebook diplomacy,” to hold on to its remaining 13 allies worldwide. A Taiwan official said, “We don’t have a large enough chequebook”. China, under its utopian ideology of ‘One-China’, has always maintained that the territory of Taiwan is under the Chinese government, in support of which the Chinese Embassy in Washington has called self-ruled Taiwan "an inalienable part of China". It has mentioned in a statement that "China is willing to develop relations with all countries in the spirit of equality and mutual respect."

For more updates keep visiting our website www.topstoriesworld.com where we provide unbiased, true and top stories of the world.