TAIPEI – Paraguayan President-elect Santiago Pena will visit Taiwan this week to cement the “friendship” between the self-ruled island and its last diplomatic ally in South America, Taipei’s Foreign Ministry announced on Sunday.

Paraguay is one of Taiwan’s few remaining allies in Latin America and the only one in South America, as Beijing – which claims the island as its territory – has spent decades convincing Taipei’s diplomatic allies to switch sides.

The foreign ministry said Mr Pena will arrive in Taipei for a five-day trip on Tuesday, when he will meet Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen before taking office in August.

“His visit will coincide with the 66th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Taiwan and Paraguay on July 12,” the ministry said.

“Paraguay is our staunch ally in South America and has firmly supported our participation in the international community for a long time... The ties and friendship between Taiwan and Paraguay are solid.”

During Paraguay’s electoral campaign, Mr Pena, an economist and former finance minister, vowed to continue recognising Taiwan, and his win erased Taipei’s fear that Paraguay would ditch ties with the self-ruled island in favour of Beijing.

In recent years, Panama, El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua and Honduras have switched allegiance from Taiwan to China.

Latin America has been a key diplomatic battleground for China and Taiwan since the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949.

Honduras made the latest switch to Beijing in March, leaving only 13 countries that diplomatically recognise Taipei. AFP