Paraguay president-elect arrives in Taiwan pledging closer ties

TAIPEI (Reuters) - Paraguay's president-elect, Santiago Pena, said on Tuesday his country's relationship with Taiwan needed to be even closer and he would reinforce their friendship, even as China ramps up diplomatic and military pressure on the democratic island.

Pena made the remarks upon arriving in Taiwan for a visit, accompanied by his economic team.

Paraguay is the last South American country with formal relations with Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory, after the island lost support from most other Latin American nations. Honduras ended decades of ties in favour of Beijing this year.

Pena last visited Taiwan 24 years ago as a student, and had returned to "reinforce the friendship" between Paraguay and Taiwan, which dates back almost seven decades, he told reporters at Taiwan's main international airport, where he was met by Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu.

"I want to spend the next five years bringing us together. We are close, but I think that in this moment we need to be closer, we need to be together," he said.

Pena and his economic team will work to bring the two nations' relations to a "place that we can only dream (about) at this moment," he added.

Pena had pledged during his election campaign to maintain relations with Taiwan despite pressure from the local agricultural sector, which wants to open up lucrative Chinese markets to soybeans and beef.

During his visit, Pena will meet Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen and Vice President William Lai, who is the ruling Democratic Progressive Party's candidate in January's presidential election.

Pena will take office on Aug. 15. Diplomatic sources have told Reuters that Lai might attend as Taiwan's representative, likely travelling via the United States to meet U.S. officials.

China's efforts to win over Taiwan's friends and expand its influence in countries in the U.S. backyard, especially in Latin America, have caused alarm in Washington.

Taiwan now has formal diplomatic relations with only 13 countries, mostly poor and developing nations in Central America, the Caribbean and the Pacific.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Emma Rumney)