The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities in China's Taiwan region have been urged to explain its $2 million fund to Paraguay, which is reported to have been misused with permission from the DPP, local media reported on Thursday.

The Paraguayan government attempted to use part of the $2 million fund, donated by the DPP authorities for the construction of housing for indigenous families in Paraguay, to repair its president's private airplane and helicopter, Taiwan's United Daily News reported, citing Paraguayan media agencies.

The Paraguayan presidential office denied having carried out the repair, but it acknowledged having asked for permission from the DPP authorities to use the money, as per the report.

The DPP authorities have pledged to provide Paraguay with over $150 million in funds through various projects from 2018 to 2023 in exchange for maintaining so-called diplomatic relations between Paraguay and Taiwan, the report added.

Singaporean newspaper Nanyang Siang Pau pointed out on Sunday that DPP's fund to Paraguay is only the tip of the iceberg of its "money diplomacy," which wasted the hard-earned money of the people of Taiwan and deteriorated cross-Straits relations.

(Cover: The Taipei 101 skyscraper in Taipei, southeast China's Taiwan, July 21, 2019. /Xinhua)