The flags of Taiwan and Honduras flutter in the wind outside the Taiwan Embassy in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, March 15.FREDY RODRIGUEZ/Reuters
Honduras ended its decades-long relationship with Taiwan and said it only recognised China, as Taiwan’s foreign minister accused the Central American country of demanding exorbitant amounts of money before being lured away by Beijing.
The ending of ties with Taiwan had been long expected after the Honduran foreign minister travelled to China last week to open relations and President Xiomara Castro said her government would start ties with Beijing.
In a brief statement late on Saturday announcing the severing of ties, the Honduran foreign ministry said it recognized the People’s Republic of China as the only legitimate government that represents all of China and that Taiwan is an “inseparable part of Chinese territory.”
China claims democratically ruled Taiwan as its own territory with no right to state-to-state ties, a position Taipei strongly rejects. China demands that countries with which it has ties to recognize its position.
Speaking on Sunday in Taipei shortly after the announcement, Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said Castro, who took office early last year, and her government had “always had illusions” about China and China’s “luring” had never stopped.
“The foreign ministry and embassy grasped the relevant information and handled it carefully. However, the Castro government also asked us for billions of dollars in huge economic assistance and compared prices for assistance programs provided by Taiwan and China,” Wu said.
China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency confirmed the two had established diplomatic ties on Sunday.
Wu added that the Honduran foreign minister wrote to Taiwan on March 13, the day before Castro’s original announcement, demanding a total of $2.45-billion in aid, including the construction of a hospital and a dam and to write off debt.
“It felt like what they wanted was money, not a hospital,” Wu said.
Honduras Foreign Minister Eduardo Enrique Reina told Reuters last week the $2.5-billion figure was “not a donation” but rather “a negotiated refinancing mechanism.”
Promises
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen is due to depart on a sensitive visit to the United States, Guatemala and Belize on Wednesday. She is expected to meet U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in Los Angeles at the end of the trip.
Wu said he was “highly suspicious” of the timing of the Honduran decision so close to Tsai’s overseas tour.
“China seems to be doing this intentionally,” he said.
The United States has been watching with concern as China expands its footprint in its backyard by taking away Taiwan’s Central American allies, and has repeatedly warned countries not to believe China’s promises of aid.
The U.S. State Department said while the Honduran action was a sovereign decision, it was important to note China “often makes promises in exchange for diplomatic recognition that ultimately remain unfulfilled”.
“Regardless of Honduras’ decision, the United States will continue to deepen and expand our engagement with Taiwan,” it said in a statement.
Relations between Honduras and Taiwan date back to 1941 when the government of the Republic of China, which remains Taiwan’s official name, was still in China before it fled to the island in 1949 after loosing a civil war with the Mao Zedong’s communists.
Taiwan now only has formal diplomatic relations with 13 countries, mostly poor and developing countries in Central America, the Caribbean and the Pacific.