China establishes diplomatic relations with Honduras, which broke with Taiwan

Honduras And China today announced the establishment of diplomatic relations, hours after the Central American country officially announced the severance of those with which it maintained Taiwan since 1941.

The Foreign Ministers of Honduras, Eduardo Reina, and China, Qin Gang, signed in Beijing the “Joint Communiqué on Establishing Relations between the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of Honduras,” which formalizes ties between the two countries.

The move comes eleven days after Honduran President Xiomara Castro announced her intention to establish ties with the Asian giant.

The statement states that the opening of relations takes effect from the date of its signing and that the two countries agree to “develop friendly relations based on mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, non-aggression, non-interference in internal affairs, equality, mutual benefit and peaceful coexistence.”

“The government of Honduras recognizes that there is only one in the world Chinathat the Government of the People’s Republic China is the only government legally representing China and that Taiwan is an integral part of its territory,” he continues.

According to the text, Honduras “It must sever ‘diplomatic relations’ with Taiwan from today and undertakes not to develop any official relations or exchanges” with the island.

Today’s signing was the first public appearance in China by a Honduras foreign minister who traveled to Beijing three days ago to negotiate opening diplomatic relations with an Asian country, to which Taiwan responded by withdrawing its ambassador to that country.

A few hours earlier, Tegucigalpa’s executive branch had announced that it had “informed Taiwan of the decision to sever diplomatic relations between the two countries.”

Beijing Highlights Solution

Following the official act, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement that “Honduras is an important country in Central America” ​​and considers its decision “a wise option, in line with the global trend and supported by the people.”

“China highly appreciates this decision” and “based on the five principles of peaceful coexistence, is ready to strengthen friendly cooperation in various fields with Honduras for the benefit of both countries and peoples,” the report said.

Prior to her inauguration as President of Honduras on January 27, 2022, Xiomara Castro stated that opening up relations with China was not on her agenda.

Honduras’ decision has been marked by controversy in recent days as Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said the Central American country “has asked a high price” for maintaining diplomatic relations with Taipei.

Shortly thereafter, Deputy Foreign Minister of Honduras Tony Garcia confirmed that his country had asked the self-governing island for $2 billion to restructure its foreign debt and, unofficially, had also asked for a hospital.

Honduras and Taiwan maintained military, educational, and economic cooperation, and the island funded technical and agricultural assistance projects and hosted hundreds of Honduran scholarship holders at its universities.

Honduras’ severing ties with Taiwan reduces to 13 countries with which Taipei maintains official diplomatic relations, and makes the Central American country the ninth and fifth Latin American country to sever ties with the island since 2016 in order to establish ties with China. .

Honduras has joined its neighbors Panama, El Salvador, the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua in breaking off relations with the island in recent years in favor of the People’s Republic of China, a decision shared by the Hondurans.

(EFE)