As a result of Honduras’ decision to sever its long-standing diplomatic ties with Taiwan in favour of China, Taipei has accused Beijing of using “coercion and intimidation” to entice its few surviving allies.
The government of Honduras acknowledges that there is only one China in the globe, according to a statement from the foreign ministry on Saturday.
And the only legitimate government that serves all of China is the People’s Republic of China, it added.
It continued, “Taiwan is an integral part of Chinese territory.”
Honduras informed Taiwan of its decision to sever ties and that it would no longer maintain any kind of relationship or formal communication with Taipei, according to the ministry.
Only 13 independent states now acknowledge Taiwan as a legitimate country.
Since the two parties split amid a civil war in 1949, China and Taiwan have been engaged in a struggle for diplomatic recognition, with Beijing spending billions to advance its “One China” policy.
Taiwan’s freely elected government vigorously disagrees with China’s perception that Taiwan is one of its provinces and does not have the right to have international relations.
After the Honduran foreign minister visited China last week and President Xiomara Castro announced her administration would establish diplomatic relations with Beijing, Honduras’s break with Taiwan was long anticipated.
China made the statement that it was establishing relations with Tegucigalpa shortly after Honduras did.
Hua Chunying, a spokeswoman for the Chinese foreign ministry, tweeted that “China and Honduras just established diplomatic relations.”
The switch, according to Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen, was “part of a series of China’s coercion and intimidation.”
In a statement released by her office, it was stated that “China has long suppressed Taiwan’s international space, unilaterally endangering regional peace and stability.”
Taiwan will shut its embassy in Honduras and remove its ambassador there, according to Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Joseph Wu.
Castro, who assumed office at the beginning of last year, according to Wu, “always had illusions” about China.
The foreign ministry and embassy carefully handled the pertinent material after understanding it. However, the Castro administration also requested billions of dollars in significant economic help from us and contrasted the costs of Taiwanese and Chinese assistance programs, according to Wu.
Aid was not mentioned in either the Chinese or the Honduran remarks.
Wu added that on March 13, the day before Castro made his initial statement, the foreign minister of Honduras sent a letter to Taiwan requesting a total of $2.45 billion in assistance, including the building of a hospital and a dam as well as debt forgiveness.
Wu said that it appeared that they desired financial gain rather than a hospital.
The $2.5 billion number was “not a donation,” according to Eduardo Enrique Reina, the foreign minister of Honduras, but rather “a negotiated refinancing mechanism,” he told Reuters last week.
Since Tsai assumed office in May 2016, Honduras has been Taipei’s ninth diplomatic ally to fall to Beijing.
Taiwan continues to maintain relations with the Vatican City, Belize, Guatemala, and Paraguay in Latin America. Along with Eswatini, formerly Swaziland, in southern Africa, the majority of its surviving allies are island countries in the Caribbean and South Pacific.
Taiwan maintains strong informal links with more than 100 other nations, most notably the United States, despite China’s campaign of isolation.
While the Honduran action was a sovereign choice, the US State Department noted it was crucial to keep in mind China “often makes promises in exchange for diplomatic recognition that ultimately remain unfulfilled.”
In a statement, it said that “the United States will continue to deepen and expand our engagement with Taiwan regardless of Honduras’ decision.”
