TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) — Honduran President Xiomara Castro announced Tuesday that her government would attempt to establish diplomatic ties with China, which would mean severing ties with Taiwan. The move would result in Taiwan being recognized by just 13 countries as China spends billions to gain recognition for its “One China” policy.
Castro said on her Twitter account that she had instructed Honduran Foreign Minister Eduardo Reina to open negotiations with China and that her intention was “in unison with the nations of the world to freely expand borders.”
Castro said during her 2021 presidential campaign that she would look for links with China if elected, but once in power her government retracted those comments. In January 2022, the foreign minister told The Associated Press that Honduras would continue to strengthen ties with Taiwan and that establishing a diplomatic relationship with China was not a priority for Castro.
Reina, the foreign minister, said the government had weighed the benefits Honduras had gained from a good relationship with Taiwan and decided there was no reason for change at the moment.
In Taipei, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it had “expressed serious concerns to the Honduran government. Our country has made it clear to Honduras many times that Taiwan is a sincere and reliable cooperation partner of our allies. Honduras is urged to weigh carefully and not fall into China’s trap or make wrong decisions that damage the long-standing Taiwan-Honduras friendship.”
Beijing has not commented on the issue
Claiming that self-governing, democratic Taiwan is part of its territory, to be brought under its control by force if necessary, China refuses most contacts with countries that have formal ties with Taiwan, and threatens countries with retaliation simply for breaking their contacts strengthen.
China has expelled Lithuania’s ambassador, downgraded diplomatic ties and blocked trade with the Baltic country of 2.7 million after expanding ties with Taipei in October 2021. Lithuania has since closed its embassy in Beijing and opened a trade office in Taiwan.
It’s not clear why the Honduran government changed its mind. However, China, which is building a massive dam in Honduras, generally uses trade and investment as incentives to switch ties, as it has successfully done with Costa Rica, Panama, El Salvador, Nicaragua and most recently with South Pacific states including the Solomon Islands islands.
Taiwan provides agricultural experts, vocational training programs and other forms of economic assistance to its dwindling number of formal diplomatic partners.
However, budgetary restrictions imposed by the democratically elected legislature prevent them from splattering on sports stadiums, conference halls and government buildings like in China.
China’s billion-dollar “Belt and Road” initiative has also offered developing countries ports, railroads, power plants and other infrastructure financed by commercial-rate loans.
Losing Honduras would leave Taiwan with formal diplomatic relations with just 13 sovereign countries, including Vatican City. In Latin America, it also has ties with Belize and Paraguay, with most of its remaining allies being small, poor island nations in the Caribbean and South Pacific.
The only remaining African ally is Eswanti, formerly known as Swaziland, whose Prime Minister Cleopas Sipho Dlamini visited Taiwan this month and expressed support for the island’s re-admission to the United Nations and its agencies.
Despite China’s isolation campaign, Taiwan maintains robust informal ties with more than 100 other countries.
Earlier this month, Micronesian President David Panuelo, in a letter to other national leaders, accused China of “political warfare” and discussed switching China’s diplomatic allegiance to Taiwan in exchange for $50 million to top up the tiny Pacific island nation’s trust fund.
Panuelo said China had been spying on Micronesia, offering bribes and acting in a menacing manner to ensure Micronesia would side with China, or at least refrain from taking sides, in the event of a war with Taiwan.
Panuelo said Micronesia will also receive a $15 million annual aid package and Taiwan will take on various projects China has started, including a national convention center, two state government complexes and two gyms.
China denied the allegations, calling them “slander”.
China’s diplomatic offensive has begun to raise concerns in the US as rivalry with Beijing intensifies.
China won former Taiwanese Pacific allies Kiribati and the Solomon Islands in 2019 and signed a security pact with the latter that would allow Chinese naval vessels and security forces to maintain a presence in the country. The move drew concern from the US, Australia and New Zealand, as well as opposition politicians in the country.
Alarmed by such Chinese gains, the Biden administration is proposing to spend billions to keep three Pacific countries in US orbit.
President Joe Biden’s federal budget proposal, released Thursday, includes more than $7.1 billion in funding for the Marshall Islands, Micronesia and Palau. The money is included in the $63.1 billion request from the State Department and the US Agency for International Development.
The money, to be paid out over 20 years, would extend agreements with the three states under which the US offers them basic services and economic support in exchange for military base rights and other preferential treatment. Those deals were due to expire later this year and next, and US officials say China has been trying to use the extension negotiations to its own advantage.
The White House said the payments are part of its strategy to “beat China” and strengthen America’s alliances and partnerships in the Indo-Pacific.