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China has sanctioned Paraguay’s communications minister and Belize’s foreign minister over their countries’ diplomatic ties with Taiwan.

Getting into it: The Chinese Foreign Ministry announced the sanctions on Monday, freezing any assets Paraguay’s communications minister, Gustavo Villate, and Belize’s foreign minister, Francis Fonseca, hold in China, barring them from entering the country, and banning Chinese organizations and individuals from doing business with them. Taiwanese media say it’s the first time Beijing has sanctioned officials from one of the island’s diplomatic allies.

Beijing accused “certain anti-China politicians” of pushing their countries to keep ties with Taiwan out of “self-interest” and taking “egregious actions” that damage China’s “core interests.” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning called the two ministers “pawns” for Taiwan and accused them of spreading “false information about Chinese cyberattacks,” an apparent reference to a July statement from Villate’s ministry and the US embassy in Paraguay that said Chinese state-backed hackers had broken into Paraguayan government networks. Beijing called those claims “slander.”

The sanctions don’t carry much weight, since officials from Taiwan’s allies rarely set foot in China anyway. The sanctions came two days after Taiwan’s National Day, which Villate marked with a post reaffirming Paraguay’s friendship with Taiwan, while Belize’s embassy in Taipei celebrated 37 years of diplomatic ties. Fonseca also met with Taiwan’s foreign minister in Belize last month, and Taiwan plans to build a $200 million data center in Paraguay, which is set to open by the end of 2027.

In a statement, Villate said the sanctions were not a big deal to him and that the country would “continue working on all the projects” they have and would push them “more strongly.”

Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry condemned the move as “blatant interference in the sovereignty and foreign policies of other nations.”

This all comes as Beijing ramps up pressure on Taiwan’s shrinking list of allies, after Chinese leader Xi Jinping pledged in January that reunification with Taiwan is “unstoppable.” Honduras cut ties with Taiwan in 2023, followed by Nauru in 2024.