On March 23, Alexander Tah-ray Yui, head of the Department of Latin American and Caribbean Affairs of the Republic of China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, revealed that China’s vaccine makers would not sell their shots to Paraguay unless it agreed to sever its diplomatic relations with Taiwan, according to the Taipei-based Central News Agency (CNA). The Paraguayan side condemned the action, saying that Chinese vaccine manufacturers were attempting to hurt its sovereignty; and contended that vaccines should not be reduced to a political tool, CNA reported. Paraguay is one of the 15 diplomatic allies of Taiwan, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Beijing has won over seven former diplomatic allies of Taiwan, including Sao Tome and Principe, Panama, Dominica, Burkina Faso, El Salvador, the Solomon Islands, and Kiribati, since President Tsai Ing-wen took office in 2016. China’s state media Global Times chortled in an editorial on Sept. 20, 2019, that the number of …