ASUNCION, Paraguay ¨C When Paraguayan opposition lawmaker Leidy Galeano returned from an all-expenses-paid tour of six Chinese cities late last year, she was convinced Paraguay risked missing out on major economic gains by sticking with longtime ally Taiwan over Beijing ¡ª a message participants on the trip heard repeatedly from Chinese officials.
¡°Everything I saw there, I wanted for my country,¡± said Galeano, a member of the newly formed Yo Creo party whose senior figures have spoken favorably about China.
This trip and others like it, which people familiar with the visits said were at the invitation of the Chinese consulate in Sao Paulo, offered lavish banquets, stays at luxury hotels and tours of the Great Wall, part of what Paraguayan lawmakers said they saw as a coordinated effort to draw the country away from democratically governed Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own territory.
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