Honduras’s leftist government cut diplomatic ties with Taiwan, the Latin American country announced on Saturday, saying it recognizes “only one China in the world” under pressure from China’s ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Hours later, China’s state-controlled media reported on Sunday that Beijing and Honduras had now established diplomatic relations.
It added that “Taiwan is an inalienable part of Chinese territory, and as of today, the Honduran government has informed Taiwan of the severance of diplomatic relations, pledging not to have any official relationship or contact with Taiwan.”
Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said on Sunday that the governments of Honduras and China were discussing establishing ties and that Taiwan had ended its relations with Honduras to “safeguard its sovereignty and dignity.”
Wu said that Honduras President Xiomara Castro and her team always had a “fantasy” about China, and had raised the issue of switching ties before the presidential election in Honduras in 2021 saw the defeat of conservative President Juan Orlando Hernandez.
CCP mouthpiece Global Times said of the Castro government’s decision on Twitter, “This is the trend. Even [the United States] can’t turn the tide. Seeking ‘Taiwan independence’ is bound to bring heavy losses & doomed to fail. 10 countries in 10 years have cut ‘diplomatic’ ties with Taiwan island. Honduras is the latest & will not be the last. Who’s the next?”
“Taiwan was a solid partner of the Honduran people for 82 years, contributing to public health, education, agriculture, infrastructure, SME’s, and more. The HN government has abandoned this to embrace an authoritarian CCP. Disappointing.
“The CCP’s attempts to suppress Taiwan’s international space will not end here. But the fact is, Taiwan as a force for good will never be isolated.”
China and Taiwan have been locked in a battle for diplomatic recognition since the sides split amid China’s civil war in 1949, with the CCP spending billions to win recognition for its “one China” principle.
The CCP claims Taiwan is part of its territory, to be brought under its control by force if necessary, and refuses most contacts with countries that maintain formal ties with the island democracy. It threatens retaliation against countries merely for increasing contacts.
Taiwan still has ties with Belize, Paraguay, and Guatemala in Latin America, and Vatican City. Most of its remaining partners are island nations in the Caribbean and South Pacific, along with Eswatini in southern Africa.