Paraguay’s President-elect Santiago Peña has said he will continue to strengthen ties with Taiwan, following a bruising campaign that saw relations with the self-governing island thrown into question.

The statement, which followed a congratulatory call from Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, indicated that Paraguay would not go the way of other Latin American countries in cutting formal ties with Taiwan in order to forge relations with China, which considers the island its territory.

“We will keep strengthening the historic ties between Paraguay and the Republic of China [Taiwan], and look forward to working on mutually beneficial cooperation projects,” Peña said on Twitter.