Taiwan hosts Paraguayan leader at military drill amid rising tensions with mainland China
Joint land and air training exercise simulates mainland Chinese attack
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen hosted her Paraguayan counterpart on Tuesday at a military exercise in a sign of the island’s determination to withstand mainland China’s diplomatic onslaught.
The joint land and air training exercise simulated an attempt by mainland Chinese forces to attack a Taiwanese airbase in the north of the island.
Beijing claims Taiwan as its own territory and has been whittling away at the self-governing island’s pool of diplomatic allies, leaving it now with just 17, including Paraguay.
Defence ministry spokesman Chen Chong-chi said inviting Paraguayan President Mario Abdo Benitez to view the exercise alongside Tsai would “help strengthen the friendship between the two countries” and boost future civilian and military exchanges.
Taiwan and the mainland separated amid civil war in 1949. Beijing has vowed to bring the island under its control by force if deemed necessary.
Last month, the United States recalled its envoys to the Dominican Republic, El Salvador and Panama after decisions by those nations to cut ties with Taipei in favour of diplomatic relations with Beijing.