The phrase being on the right side of history is used to identify long-term trends that have the same meaning of validity for people, according to the writer Steven Pinker. This endorsement is generally moral and comes from the community of values sustained by a society.
The Paraguayan foreign policy led by President Santiago Pena seeks to insert the country into the international system of nations through a set of skillful and intelligent actions in the defense of national interests in order to seek the welfare of Paraguay. It is in this sense that we seek to consolidate the necessary strategic alliances, in accordance with our objectives, on the path of progress for our people.
Being consistent with this thought, the relationship with Taiwan has been strengthened, following the desire to continue our partnership of development cooperation with that sister Asian nation, which emerged from July 12, 1957, the date of the beginning of our bilateral relations.
Therefore, in current times, when democracy has been consolidated as the system of government, which represents the genuine interests of countries seeking its development through mechanisms governed by existing legal norms in a State of Law, to be on the right side of history means sharing the same civic values and democratic principles referring to the full exercise of freedom, respect for human rights, sovereignty and independence of peoples, as well as the importance of education as the main source of progress and well-being of a country. That is why cooperation between Paraguay and Taiwan has as one of its cornerstones the sharing of values such as the unrestricted validity of democracy, which guarantee justice and the well-being of our states.
It is within these terms that we cannot fail to defend the rule of law in any part of the world, all the more so when it comes to noble and brotherly people such as the Taiwanese. It is undeniable that the democratic evolution of our society in recent decades has laid the foundations of our citizens’ coexistence, so we cannot be alien to this world reality. The foreign policy of a nation is the reflection of the way of thinking of its society on a given issue, and since the majority of Paraguayans, regardless of their ideology, argue that the democratic system is the one that governs our nation, this cannot be deviated from in their foreign policy actions.
When it is argued that diplomatic relations with Taiwan are the most convenient for Paraguay, it is because it will bring the best benefits to our nations, so we affirm that we are on the right track and on the right side of history.
To conclude we are reminded of the Hindu leader Mahatma Gandhi’s words: “Even if you are a minority of one, the truth is the truth.”
Therefore in the defense of the freedom and democracy of the peoples, we are not interested in numbers, but the values that we sustain, and being on the right side of history is to defend freedom, democracy and justice of peoples. That is why Paraguay and Taiwan are on the right side of history.
Carlos Jose Fleitas Rodriguez is the Paraguayan ambassador to the Republic of China (Taiwan).
Public health is one of Taiwan’s greatest strengths. Its National Health Insurance was already one of the best single-payer systems in the world, ensuring that everyone has coverage while staying nimble in the face of financial challenges. The COVID-19 pandemic was a chance for the world to see Taiwan’s full public health apparatus at work. Officials caught wind of a strange virus circulating in China and jumped to screen and then stem the flow of travelers before the word “coronavirus” even made headlines. It was one of the only countries in the world to escape widespread transmission before vaccines were distributed,
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce on Oct. 12 announced that it would consider adopting further measures in response to Taiwan’s trade barriers on certain goods from China, based on the findings of an investigation it launched late last year. The measures could include tariffs or other forms of economic pressure. The announcement is yet another political move by Beijing that is more declarative than substantive. The timing was not coincidental, as it came shortly after President William Lai (賴清德) delivered his first Double Ten National Day speech after taking office on May 20, which was moderate on the cross-strait relationship,
On Monday morning last week, many Chinese investors woke up anticipating a raft of new stimulus measures to save the Chinese economy during an official Chinese Communist Party (CCP) news conference. Instead, by about 5am the CCP had launched military exercises surrounding Taiwan. State media announced that China would “completely reunify” Taiwan with its “ancestral homeland.” The refurbished Liaoning aircraft carrier, which had only days prior returned to its home berth at Yuchi Naval Base in China’s Shandong Province, was rushed back out to sea to traverse the Bashi Channel separating Taiwan and the Philippines to take its position for the exercises. The
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) on Oct. 9 made a rebuttal to President William Lai’s (賴清德) Double Ten National Day gala speech, which was given on Oct. 5, saying that “the Republic of China [ROC] is the motherland of Taiwanese” and “every Taiwanese citizen is a Taiwanese, and also a descendant of the [mythological Chinese] Yan (炎帝) and Yellow emperors (黃帝).” That is just plain nonsense. Through the most basic understanding of history, Chu’s hometown in Taoyuan’s Bade Township (八德) was originally the Ketagalan settlement of Siaoli (霄裡). At the beginning of the reign of the Qing Dynasty’s Qianlong