One of Taiwan’s few remaining formal allies, Paraguay, has asked the island’s government for $1 billion (£930 million) in investment to ensure it can resist pressure to sever diplomatic ties with China.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Paraguay’s president, Mario Abdo Benítez, said his government was working with Taiwan’s to ensure Paraguayans felt “the real benefits of the strategic alliance”.
“There is Taiwanese investment of more than $6bn in countries which don’t have diplomatic relations with Taiwan, we want from that $1bn to be put in Paraguay,” he said. “That will help us to build the argument about the importance of this strategic alliance with Taiwan.”