TEGUCIGALPA/TAIPEI — Honduran President Xiomara Castro announced Tuesday that he has directed the country's foreign minister to open official relations with China, a move that threatens to further reduce Taiwan's dwindling number of allies. There is.
The Central American country's leader had floated the idea of cutting ties with Taiwan and starting ties with China during the election period, but announced in January 2022 that he wanted to maintain ties with Taiwan. Stated.
China does not allow any countries with which it has diplomatic relations to maintain official relations with Taiwan, and claims that Taiwan is its own territory with no right to state-to-state relations.
If Honduras were to sever ties with Taiwan, only 13 diplomatic allies would remain.
Honduran opposition lawmaker Tomas Zambrano told local television that the decision is likely to affect relations with the United States, the country's biggest trading partner, and many families depend on remittances from the north. he pointed out.
Although the United States has no formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan, it is Taiwan's most important international patron and arms supplier, and a constant source of friction in Sino-American relations.
“We have to be very pragmatic and pursue what is in the best interest of the Honduran people,” Honduran Foreign Minister Eduardo Reyna told local television on Tuesday.
Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it expressed serious concerns to the Honduran government and urged it to carefully consider the decision and “not fall into China's trap.”
A person familiar with the situation in Taiwan said Taiwan must use “all possible means” to maintain diplomatic relations with Honduras.
In December 2021, Nicaragua severed long-standing ties with Taiwan and switched its allegiance to China, declaring that “Taiwan is an inalienable part of Chinese territory.”
The U.S. State Department at the time encouraged countries to maintain ties with Taiwan and said Nicaragua's decision did not reflect the will of its people because the Nicaraguan government was not freely elected.
The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Honduras.
In Latin America, Guatemala, Belize, and Paraguay are among the few remaining allies of Taipei.