China sanctions Paraguay and Belize ministers over Taiwan ties

China's foreign ministry announced the sanctions in two notices on 12 October 2026, and they took effect the same day. The measures freeze the two ministers' assets in China, deny them entry to mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau, and bar Chinese organisations and individuals from transactions, cooperation or other activities with them. Reuters reported the sanctions are largely symbolic because ministers from Taiwan's diplomatic allies generally do not travel to China.

The timing was pointed: the sanctions came two days after Taiwan's National Day on 10 October. Villate marked the occasion with a social media post saying Paraguay reaffirmed its friendship and cooperation with Taiwan based on shared values and principles.

Beijing said the measures were needed to safeguard national sovereignty and security and to oppose separatist activities. The foreign ministry said the two men had taken "a series of egregious actions and statements" that damaged China's core interests, and that "certain anti-China politicians" had pushed their governments to keep ties with Taipei. Speaking in Beijing, ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said the politicians were "willing to serve as pawns" for Taiwan. She accused them of spreading false information about Chinese cyberattacks and of attacking and smearing China, without elaborating. She added that countries still recognising Taipei should not be "repeatedly manipulated by Taiwan independence separatist forces".

Reactions

Belize's foreign ministry called the measures "unwarranted". "These measures will not alter Belize's foreign policy, nor will they deter the Government from carrying out its responsibilities," it said in a statement. It said Belize remained fully committed to its relationship with Taiwan. Paraguay's Villate told local media on 12 October that the move was "to be expected", given the projects Paraguay and Taiwan are pursuing together, including a data centre. "We are very calm," he said. "We will continue working on all the projects we have, and we will push this even more strongly."

Taiwan's foreign ministry condemned the sanctions as "blatant interference in the sovereignty and foreign policies of other nations". It later thanked Belize and Paraguay for reaffirming ties and said both governments had described the autonomous exercise of foreign policy as a principle and consensus upheld by the international community. It also said Beijing's attempts to suppress Taiwan, Belize and Paraguay would make it "an international laughingstock".

Limited impact

Ed Moon, who runs the cross-Strait intelligence site Strait Signal, told Radio Free Asia that Chinese sanctions are unlikely to have significant impact on people without major interests in the Chinese banking system, shareholdings or business. He said the penalties still have a purpose beyond financial loss: they signal to observers in China and abroad that Beijing can enforce restrictions when it believes its interests have been harmed, and can warn countries closely connected to the Chinese economy about dealings with sanctioned individuals.

William Yang, a Northeast Asia analyst at the International Crisis Group, told the same outlet there is little evidence the strategy is isolating Taipei. "We haven't really seen a substantial level of retreat in terms of foreign parliamentarians' trips to Taiwan or foreign governments' cooperation with Taiwan," he said.

Previous sanctions

Beijing has previously imposed similar measures mainly on Western politicians for their support of Taiwan, Reuters reported. Radio Free Asia reported that in June, China confirmed entry restrictions against New Zealand lawmakers after their visit to Taiwan, and that in August 2022 it sanctioned Lithuania's deputy transport minister, Agnė Vaiciukevičiūtė, after she visited Taiwan and suspended exchanges with Vilnius's transport ministry. Cooperation with Taiwan continued, the outlet reported.

Paraguay and Belize are two of just 12 countries that maintain formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Reuters reported. Al Jazeera reported that Taiwan's other allies in the Americas include Guatemala and Haiti, and that it also has ties with three Caribbean islands. Reuters also reported that Honduras ended its decades-long ties with Taipei in 2023, and that Nauru switched to Beijing in 2024.