Developing Story
Paraguay's UN Push for Taiwan Inclusion
Paraguayan President Santiago Peña used his UN General Assembly address on September 23, 2026 to call Taiwan's UN exclusion 'a stain' and warn that a Taiwan Strait conflict could be a greater threat than the Hormuz crisis, reaffirming Paraguay's status as one of Taiwan's few remaining formal diplomatic allies.
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## Overview
Paraguayan President Santiago Peña told the UN General Assembly on September 23, 2026 that his country "is not neutral" on the Taiwan Strait, pledging support for Taiwan and calling for its "full and meaningful participation" in the UN system (SCMP, September 23).
## Key Statements
Peña called Taiwan's exclusion from the UN "a stain," and cast a potential Taiwan Strait conflict as a possibly "far greater threat" than the closure of the Strait of Hormuz (SCMP, September 23). He warned of "ominous clouds gathering over the Indo-Pacific" and of a conflict that would affect Japan and the rest of East Asia (SCMP, September 23).
## Strategic Context
Paraguay is one of Taiwan's remaining formal diplomatic allies, making Peña's remarks a notable public reaffirmation of that relationship at a moment when Beijing has been applying diplomatic pressure on Taiwan's remaining African and Latin American allies. The comments come amid heightened Trump-Xi summit diplomacy where Taiwan arms sales and policy uncertainty are reportedly on the agenda.
## Why It Matters
This statement is part of a broader pattern of small-state diplomatic signaling on Taiwan at the UN, relevant to ongoing debates over Taiwan's international space, cross-strait tensions, and the diplomatic tug-of-war between Beijing and Taipei over remaining formal allies (a dynamic also visible in Panama-Taiwan parliamentary exchanges and China's diplomatic pressure on Taiwan's African allies).