China has sanctioned two serving ministers from Paraguay and Belize over their countries' ties with Taiwan, taking its campaign against the island's last diplomatic allies to the people who run them.
The measures, which took effect on October 12, target Paraguay's Minister of Information and Communication Technologies Gustavo Villate and Belize's Foreign Minister Francis Fonseca. They freeze any property the two men may hold in China, bar Chinese organisations and individuals from dealing with them and deny them visas and entry to mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau, the Chinese foreign ministry said in two orders issued under its Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law.
"Certain politicians in Paraguay and Belize willingly serve as chess pieces for the DPP authorities in their pursuit of independence," foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told a regular press conference in Beijing on October 12, referring to Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party.
She accused the two of visiting Taiwan, hosting "Taiwan independence" separatists and spreading false claims about Chinese cyberattacks, and described the sanctions as "an action of warning and deterrence".
Beijing has until now used this kind of personal sanction mainly against Western politicians who back Taiwan. Turning it on cabinet members of states that formally recognise Taipei marks a sharper phase in China's drive to strip the self-governing island of its remaining partners, which number just 12 after Honduras switched to Beijing in 2023 and Nauru followed in 2024.
The penalties are largely symbolic, since ministers from Taiwan's allies seldom travel to China. Their target is the politics of recognition in the two capitals rather than the men's finances.
Asuncion pushed back the same day. Paraguay's foreign ministry rejected the sanctions as a source of "unnecessary friction" and restated its support for Taiwan and the "democratic values underpinning the alliance."
Villate branded the sanctions "a medal of honour" and said they had been predictable given the technology projects Paraguay is pursuing with Taiwan, including a binational data centre at Chaco'i and talks with Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Foxconn (TWSE: 2317) about joining the Yguazu Digital artificial intelligence hub.
"For our part we are very calm, we are going to keep working on the projects we have and push this harder," he said, adding that President Santiago Pena had ordered the joint technology agenda to be accelerated.
Taiwan's foreign ministry denounced the sanctions "preposterous" and a "blatant interference in other countries' sovereignty and diplomacy", accusing Beijing of trying to use "political intimidation and transnational repression" to bend other governments to its agenda.
Fonseca hosted Taiwanese Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung in Belize in September, after which Taiwan's foreign ministry said the two sides had agreed to deepen ties. Villate subsequently met Taiwan's Deputy Foreign Minister Chen Ming-chi in Paraguay in June.
Beijing's move came two days after Taiwan's National Day on October 10, when President Lai Ching-te said the island cherishes peace but will not give up its freedom. Villate marked the day on X with greetings to the "Republic of China (Taiwan)", writing that Paraguay reaffirms a relationship of friendship and cooperation "based on shared values and principles: the self-determination of peoples, human rights and democracy". Belize's embassy in Taipei celebrated the 37th anniversary of relations on Facebook shortly before Beijing's announcement.
The cyberattack charge appears to refer to accusations by Washington and Asuncion in July that China-linked hackers had infiltrated Paraguayan government systems, which Beijing rejected as politically motivated.
Paraguay has recognised Taipei since 1957 and is Taiwan's only major remaining ally in South America. Pena signed cybersecurity and legal assistance agreements on a state visit to Taipei in May and used his UN General Assembly speech in September to call for Taiwan's "full and meaningful participation" in the UN.
In May, Beijing called on Paraguay to "make the right choice of recognising the one-China principle and severing the so-called diplomatic ties with Taiwan authorities."
The alliance carries a commercial cost that the Asian superpower knows well. Paraguayan beef and soy cannot be sold directly to mainland China, the world's biggest buyer of both, yet Chinese goods still made up 36% of Paraguay's imports in the first half of 2026.
Taiwan's other backers in the Americas are Guatemala, Haiti and a handful of tiny Caribbean island states.
"We urge the very few countries left which still have so-called 'diplomatic ties' with China's Taiwan region to avoid being repeatedly manipulated and used by separatist forces for 'Taiwan independence," Mao, the Chinese ministry spokesperson, said.