Paraguay expels visiting Chinese envoy who urged lawmakers to reject Taiwan
Al Jazeera
China has made diplomatic inroads in Latin America, where trade concerns have led some countries to end relations with Taiwan.
The South American nation of Paraguay has expelled a Chinese diplomat on the grounds of alleged “interference in domestic affairs”.
Paraguay’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday that the visa of Xu Wei, a Chinese envoy, had been cancelled. The country gave him 24 hours to leave, declaring him persona non grata.
Xu allegedly told lawmakers that they must choose between relations with Taiwan and China after a surprise appearance at Paraguay’s Congress.
He had been in the country to attend an annual conference for UNESCO, the United Nations body for international cooperation in culture, sciences and the arts.
“This gentleman had a parallel agenda. He came to do internal politics that were not appropriate,” said Juan Baiardi, the deputy minister of administration and technical affairs for Paraguay’s Foreign Ministry.
