The President of Paraguay Santiago Pena said a few days ago in statements through a French press agency that Paraguay recognizes Taiwan’s right to self-determination as a nation, and furthermore the relationship between Paraguay and Taiwan has lasted for 67 years and there are no plans to change it.
This forceful affirmation of the Guarani chief executive clearly indicates the firmness of relations between the two states and their solid links. The right of self-determination is the right of people to decide their own form of government, pursue economic, and social and cultural development, without external interference, and in accordance with the principle of equity.
Self-determination is enshrined in the international covenants for political, social, and cultural rights, as well as in numerous resolutions of the UN General Assembly. It is a fundamental principle of public international law and a right of peoples, which is inalienable and generates obligations erga omnes (towards all) for states, that is mandatory for everyone. In fact, according to many authors, self-determination has become a norm of jus cogens (compelling law).
The right to self-determination is classified as a third-generation human right. The International Court of Justice, in its advisory opinion on the problem of Western Sahara, stated that it was a collective right owned by the people. The theory of representative government holds a definition of people, which gives the right of self-determination universal scope. It affirms that the population of a state must decide its government in the free exercise of popular sovereignty.
Paraguay has also signed the Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States of 1993, which clearly sets out the four qualifications that all people must have in order to be considered as an international legal person and state:
- Permanent population
- A defined territory
- Government
- Capacity to enter into relations with the other states
Taiwan undoubtedly possesses all these requirements.
Today, Paraguay has become one of Taiwan's most staunch advocates in international forums, thus demonstrating that this diplomatic relationship has become a “stone clause” of the foreign policies of both nations.
