China has imposed sanctions on ministerial-level officials in two of Taiwan's diplomatic allies. Taiwan's government strongly condemned the move, and cross-strait relations have soured again.

• China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced countermeasures against Paraguay's Minister of Information and Communication Technologies, Villate, and Belize's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Fonseca.
• The sanctions include freezing the two men's assets in China, barring individuals and businesses in China from dealing with them, and denying them entry to China as well as Hong Kong and Macau.
• Mainland Affairs Council Minister Chiu Chui-cheng called this "a new form of transnational repression targeting Taiwan," with China using extraterritorial legal instruments to pressure Taiwan's diplomatic allies.
• Chiu said the approach harms others without benefiting China, and will only make the Taiwanese public more resentful, pushing the two sides of the strait further apart.

Outlook: The Mainland Affairs Council said it will roll out countermeasures, and China's tactics of pressuring Taiwan's diplomatic allies are expected to continue.