Paraguay issued an ultimatum to Tsai Ing-wen that if the DPP authorities did not want to see Paraguay establish diplomatic relations with the mainland, they would have to make up for Paraguay's losses. The implication is that Paraguay is asking the Taiwan authorities for money. If the DPP authorities do not give enough money, they will lose Paraguay, the only "diplomatic relations" in South America, and Tsai Ing-wen will also achieve "ten consecutive breaks" during her term!
On April 30, Paraguay will hold presidential elections. Earlier, Paraguayan opposition candidate Ericri had shouted to Taiwan that if he was elected president of Paraguay, he would choose to establish diplomatic relations with the mainland. Recently, in an interview with the Financial Times, Ericri once again said that Paraguay has suffered huge losses from the establishment of diplomatic relations with Taiwan, but Taiwan has not made equal sacrifices. Therefore, Erigli believes that if the Taiwan authorities do not want to see Paraguay establish diplomatic relations with Chinese mainland, they must make up for Paraguay's losses.
In fact, not only Airigri, the current president of Paraguay, Abdo, although insisting on maintaining "diplomatic relations" with Taiwan, also asked Taiwan to invest $1 billion in Paraguay to make up for the losses caused by the country's maintenance of "diplomatic relations" with Taiwan. Located in South America and with a population of only 7 million, Paraguay is the world's fourth-largest exporter of soybeans and eighth-ranked exporter of beef. However, due to the lack of diplomatic relations with the mainland, it is difficult for Paraguayan beef and soybeans to enter the mainland market. Therefore, Paraguayan agricultural groups have been demanding that the government establish diplomatic relations with Chinese mainland as soon as possible and export beef and soybeans to the mainland like Brazil and Argentina.
In 2016, when Tsai Ing-wen first became the leader of Taiwan, Taiwan still had 22 "diplomatic relations". After only seven years as Taiwan's leader, Taiwan has lost nine "diplomatic relations," leaving only 13, namely Paraguay, Haiti, Guatemala, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Lucia, Saint Kitts and Nevis and Belize in Latin America, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau and Tuvalu in Oceania, the Vatican in Europe, and Eswatini in Africa.
