Sawt Falasteen - Paraguay's president-elect vows to be 'on the side' of Taiwan

Asuncion is one of the few remaining capitals in the wider Latin American region to still recognise Taiwan, after Beijing -- which claims the island as its territory -- spent decades convincing Taipei's allies to switch sides.

Pena's trip to Taipei comes about five weeks before he will be inaugurated, and he said the timing was "not a coincidence".

"I come to... reaffirm my commitment, our commitment as Paraguayans to be on the side of the people of Taiwan for the next five years," he said in a speech at Taiwan's Presidential Office.

Pena also praised President Tsai Ing-wen for "knowing that principles and values are not negotiable", and said his incoming administration would work with Taiwan on future investments to ensure "a mutual economic benefit for both nations".

On the campaign trail, the former finance minister had vowed to continue recognising Taiwan.

His win in May soothed Taipei's fear that Paraguay would ditch ties with it in favour of Beijing, an increasingly common phenomenon as China raises the pressure on Taiwan.

Pena also met on Wednesday morning with Vice President William Lai, who is running to succeed Tsai in Taiwan's January election.

Elected in 2016, Tsai is in her final term, which has been marked by rising assertiveness by China. Beijing has refused to engage with her as she does not accept that the island is a part of China.

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

Beijing does not permit its own diplomatic allies to also recognise Taipei, which only has 13 countries left as friends around the world.

China has also ramped up its military presence around Taiwan, with its warplanes making near-daily incursions into the air defence zone and sending its vessels into waters around the island.

Taiwan's Ministry of National Defence announced Wednesday morning that the Chinese military had conducted "long-range joint air and naval exercises" around waters southeast of the island.

"This morning, July 12, from 7 am to noon (2300 GMT Tuesday to 0400 GMT), 30 military aircraft were detected, including fighter jets, bombers, early-warning aircraft, ship-based helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles," the ministry said.

It added that 23 warplanes had crossed into Taiwan's air defence identification zone.

The zone is not the same as Taiwan's territorial airspace, and includes a far greater area that overlaps with part of China's own ADIZ and even some of the mainland itself.

G.AbuHamad--SF-PST