Paraguay’s tech minister defies Beijing sanctions, says Taiwan ties ‘not up for negotiation’

Paraguay’s technology minister said on Thursday that sanctions imposed on him by Beijing over his country’s ties with Taiwan would only accelerate joint projects with the island.

Gustavo Villate, who heads the Ministry of Information and Communication Technologies, wrote in a lengthy social media post that the relationship with Taipei would “never be on the negotiating table”.

He also suggested that Beijing had acted to protect Chinese telecoms suppliers kept out of Paraguay’s networks.

“This...