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