China's Foreign Ministry said earlier that the measures freeze the ministers' assets in China, deny them visas and ban Chinese organizations from doing business with them. The ministry accused both men of egregious actions and statements that damage China's core interests, and said the sanctions aim to "safeguard national security" and "oppose separatist activities."
Spokeswoman Mao Ning told a regular news briefing that certain politicians in Paraguay and Belize have willingly served as "pawns of the Taiwan authorities." She said the penalties should punish the two men.
Taiwan's Foreign Ministry hit back. It called the move "flagrant interference in the sovereignty and foreign policy of independent nations," and said it violates international law. It also accused Beijing of using political intimidation and transnational repression to coerce other countries.
The sanctions landed two days after Taiwan's national day, when President Lai Ching-te gave a speech defending the island's growing defense investment. That speech angered Beijing. Villate had marked the holiday on social media.
Taipei has only 12 diplomatic allies, and Beijing, which claims the island and has threatened force to seize it, keeps working to shrink that list. Latin America is a key battleground in that fight.
Two of those 12 allies now have ministers who can't get a Chinese visa.