A decisive shift. The President of Honduras announced on Tuesday March 14 that her country would establish “official” relations with Beijing, sending a message to Taiwan, which immediately reacted, calling on Honduras to think carefully and not to make the “wrong decision”. . “I have instructed Foreign Minister Eduardo Reina to manage the opening of official relations with the People’s Republic of China,” Xiomara Castro announced on Twitter, without however mentioning the future of relations with Taipei.
Communist China, which claims sovereignty over Taiwan, does not accept that countries can have diplomatic relations both with it and with Taipei. Any recognition of Beijing by a country leads de facto to the rupture between it and Taiwan. “We ask Honduras to think carefully and not fall into the trap of China by making a wrong decision that will damage the long-term friendship between Taiwan and Honduras,” the Taiwanese Foreign Ministry responded in a statement. communicated.
I have instructed Chancellor Eduardo Reina to manage the opening of official relations with the People’s Republic of China, as a sign of my determination to comply with the Government Plan and expand the borders freely in concert with the nations of the world.
Xiomara Castro, who took office in early 2022, announced before coming to power his intention to “immediately” recognize Communist China. But Tegucigalpa had subsequently indicated that relations with Taiwan were continuing, after a visit by Taiwanese Vice President William Lai for the inauguration of Xiomara Castro.
Xiomara Castro’s tweet “doesn’t clarify what kind of relationship” Honduras wants with Beijing, noted Honduran analyst Raul Pineda. “If it comes to diplomatic relations, it will lead to a break with Taiwan and a distancing from the United States,” he added.
“At the moment, China-US relations are very tense, and from this point of view it would be a very regrettable decision” by the government of Xiomara Castro, said this analyst.
On January 1, the head of Honduran diplomacy met with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng on the sidelines of the inauguration ceremony of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. On February 2, Reina announced negotiations with China to build a hydroelectric dam, while denying that Tegucigalpa wanted to recognize Beijing diplomatically. Beijing had already financed another dam in Honduras to the tune of $300 million, inaugurated in 2021 by then-President Juan Orlando Hernandez.
