Paraguayan, British lawmakers arrive in Taiwan

Taipei, March 19 (CNA) Lawmakers from Taiwan's South American ally Paraguay and from the United Kingdom arrived in the country on Sunday to begin their respective trips to meet with local senior officials to enhance ties between their countries and Taiwan, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA).

The Paraguayan delegation is headed by veteran Senator Blas Antonio Llano Ramos, who is joined by his wife and fellow senator Fernando Alberto Silva Facetti and parliamentarian Guadalupe Aveiro from the nation's lower house, Chamber of Deputies of Paraguay, MOFA said in a press release.

The group will stay in Taiwan until March 23 and during the trip they will meet with Legislative Speaker You Si-kun (游錫堃), Foreign Minister Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) and other senior officials.

The delegates will also pay a trip to the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), TaiwanICDF responsible for the nation's foreign aid projects and the government-funded think tank, the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, among other locations.

This is the second Paraguayan delegation to visit Taiwan this year since a visit by President of the Chamber of Deputies of Paraguay Carlos María López López in January.

Meanwhile, a delegation from the UK, headed by parliamentarian Bob Stewart, chair of British-Taiwanese All-Party Parliamentary Group, has also begun its six-day Taipei trip on Sunday.

Other members of the delegation include members of the House of Common, or the lower house of the UK Parliament, namely, Rob Butler, Sarah Atherton, Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi, Afzal Khan, and Marie Rimmer, according to MOFA.

The British delegates will meet with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁), National Security Council Secretary-General Wellington Koo (顧立雄), as well as Speaker You and Minister Wu.

They will also pay a visit to MOEA and MAC before wrapping up their trip on March 24.

The ongoing trip marks Stewart's second visit to Taiwan. He assumed the post as head of the U.K.-Taiwan parliamentarian friendship group in 2021, according to MOFA.