Like many nations, Paraguay faces an uphill battle to procure coronavirus vaccines. But its quest is being complicated by fraught relations between China on one side, and Taiwan and the U.S. on the other.
The Paraguayan government has been approached with offers of Chinese-made vaccines in exchange for breaking ties with Taiwan, the country’s foreign ministry said in a statement earlier this week. The ministry said that the offers were made by individuals "whose legitimacy and ties to the government of the People’s Republic of China are not proven.”
Foreign Minister Euclides Acevedo vowed in a radio interview Monday to not bow to pressure, according to local news site Hoy. "We are not going to accept them telling us, ‘We sell the vaccines, but they break relations with Taiwan,’” Acevedo said.