The flags of Honduras and other countries flutter in the diplomatic district in Taipei, Taiwan, March 23, 2023, which specifically houses the Embassy of Honduras. CARLOS GARCIA RAWLINS / Portal
Taiwan has protested and expressed its “deep dissatisfaction” with the Honduran foreign minister’s visit to China and announced on Thursday March 23 that it had recalled its ambassador to Honduras. “Honduras ignored more than 80 years of friendship [entre Taïwan et le Honduras] by sending its foreign minister to China, which has seriously hurt the feelings of our government and people,” Taiwan’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
The announcement came after Honduran Foreign Minister Eduardo Enrique Reina visited China to discuss establishing diplomatic relations with Beijing. According to government sources, the minister was accompanied by Deputy Xiomara Zelaya, daughter of President Castro. “The minister was there […] on the orders of President Xiomara Castro,” President Rodolfo Pastor told local newspaper El Heraldo.
China claims the democratic and self-governing island of Taiwan as part of its territory, which it intends to retake, using force if necessary. On March 14, the Central American country, through its President Xiomara Castro, announced that it would establish “official relations with the People’s Republic of China.” A decision immediately welcomed by Beijing but threatening the ties Taiwan has with Honduras.
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Theater of diplomatic rivalry
Honduras offered Taiwan “to have stronger ties with Tegucigalpa, consistent with the great needs of the Honduran people,” but the response was not positive, Reina told local television Canal 5 at the time.
In the name of the “one China” principle, the communist power in Beijing does not accept diplomatic relations with either China or Taipei. Any recognition by a country of the People’s Republic of China will result in a de facto severing of ties between China and Taiwan.
Central America has been the scene of diplomatic rivalry between Beijing and Taipei since the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949. Nicaragua, El Salvador, Panama, the Dominican Republic and Costa Rica have seceded from Taiwan in favor of Beijing in recent years.
If Honduras officially breaks with Taiwan, the island would be left with just 13 countries with which it maintains official diplomatic relations, having lost several Latin American allies in recent years.
Relations between Beijing and Taipei have deteriorated since Tsai Ing-wen was elected Taiwan’s president in 2016 by a party that has traditionally favored a formal declaration of independence for the island. Since then, Beijing has wrested diplomatic recognition from eight countries from Taipei.
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