In the conflict with Taiwan, the People’s Republic of China has won another Central American country on its side. “China and Honduras have just established diplomatic ties,” Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying tweeted today. Honduras previously severed ties with Taiwan.
Honduran Foreign Minister Enrique Reina said in Tegucigalpa that President Xiomara Castro had ordered him to inform Taiwan about the decision to “end diplomatic relations”. The government in Beijing was also informed.
One China Policy
In a political U-turn in mid-March, Honduras announced that it wanted to establish diplomatic relations with China. Reina was in Beijing on Thursday to prepare the step. The country wants to establish relations with China, mainly for economic reasons, which in return demands that relations with Taiwan be severed.
Honduras now fully follows the line of China. The government in Tegucigalpa “recognizes the existence of only one China in the world,” said the Honduran Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The government of the People’s Republic is “the only legitimate government that represents all of China”. “Taiwan is an inalienable part of Chinese territory,” the statement said.
eking has been intensifying its campaign to isolate Taiwan internationally for several years. There are only 13 countries worldwide that recognize the democratic island republic of Taiwan diplomatically – including small Pacific states, Caribbean islands, some countries in Central America and the Vatican.
