Honduras President Xiomara Castro announced the decision to promote the opening of diplomatic relations with China, in a gesture that will leave Taiwan with only 13 international allies. Beijing welcomed Tegucigalpa’s decision, while Taipei complained that Hondurans had fallen into the Chinese “trap”.
“I gave instructions to the head of diplomacy, Eduardo Reina, to arrange the opening of official relations with the People’s Republic of China, as a sign of my determination to carry out the government plan and expand the borders with freedom in harmony with the nations of the world,” he wrote to the president on Twitter. Xiomara Castro, from the left, had said during the 2021 election campaign that he would try to build ties with Beijing, but then backed down.
The foreign minister explained that economic reasons are one of the main reasons why Honduras is now betting on China – which, under the “one China” policy, requires countries with which it maintains diplomatic ties to keep those with Taiwan. break. (which he regards as a rebellious province, whose control he admits to restoring by force). Reina explained that the Hondurans tried in vain to get more support from Taiwan.
Taiwan assists its diplomatic allies with agricultural expertise, education programs and other forms of economic aid. But the economic constraints imposed by the democratic system prevent the island from spending millions and millions of dollars on works like China does – which uses investment and trade as an incentive to get Taiwan’s allies to switch sides.
“The sole purpose behind the Chinese government’s interest in establishing ties with Honduras is to suppress Taiwan’s international space, as China has no intention of promoting cooperation that benefits the welfare of the Honduran people,” Taiwan said in a statement from the ministry. State Department and asked Tegucigalpa to “consider the issue carefully” so as not to fall into China’s trap and make a wrong decision that would damage the historic bilateral friendship.
Since President Tsai Ing-wen (pro-independence) came to power in 2016, the island has lost eight allies – including Costa Rica, Panama, El Salvador or Nicaragua. Honduras will be the ninth. The support list has been reduced to 13: the Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau and Tuvalu in the Pacific; Eswatini in Africa; the Holy See in Europe; Belize, Guatemala, Haiti, Paraguay, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, in Latin America and the Caribbean. It also maintains informal relations with more than a hundred countries, including the US.
Source: DN
