Taiwan president Lai Ching-te (left) and Paraguay president Santiago Peña Palacios are seen reviewing the honour guard during a welcome ceremony in front of the Presidential Building in Taipei. (AFP pic)TAIPEI: The Trump administration opposes "coercion and aggression" by China against countries for exercising their sovereign rights, the US state department said, after Beijing sanctioned a Belize and Paraguay minister over their ties to Taiwan.
Paraguay and Belize are two of just 12 countries to maintain formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan.
China says Taiwan is one of its provinces with no right to behave like a state, a view Taipei's government strongly rejects.
The sanctions are largely symbolic because ministers from Taiwan's diplomatic allies generally do not travel to China.
