Honduras cut diplomatic ties to Taiwan in order to establish a relationship with China.
Xiomara Castro, Honduran president, has stated previously that her government will open ties to China. Her foreign minister visited Beijing recently.
On Saturday night, the Honduran foreign minister posted on Twitter: “The government of Honduras recognizes that there is only one China in this world and that the government of People’s Republic of China represents all of China.”
“Taiwan is an unalienable portion of Chinese territory. As such, the Honduran government has advised Taiwan of the end of diplomatic relations. It also pledged not to have any contact or official relations with Taiwan.
Since May 2016, when pro-independence president TsaiIng-wen was elected, Honduras has been Taipei’s ninth diplomatic ally.
This means Taiwan is only officially recognized by 13 sovereign states. However, it maintains informal ties to dozens more.
Beijing says Taiwan is part China. Taiwan must be controlled – force if necessary.
Beijing has threatened to retaliate against any country that attempts to strengthen ties with Taiwan.
It also lured Taiwan’s allies by promising investment and deeper trade relationships. This strategy has won it several Central American and Caribbean countries in the last five years.
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Joseph Wu, Taiwan’s foreign minister, confirmed that relations with Honduras had been severed. He also said that his country would shut down its embassy there and withdraw its ambassador.
He said that Honduras demanded a lot of money.
A spokesperson for the US State Department stated that: “We strongly encourage countries to increase engagement with Taiwan and continue to stand on side of democracy and good governance, transparency and adherence to law.”
A spokesperson warned that China makes many promises for diplomatic recognition, but these are often not kept.
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