Honduras: Honduras President Ms. Xiomara Castro has stated that the country is seeking to open official diplomatic ties with China, which would end its official relationship with the self-ruled island of Taiwan.

Ms. Castro, who had earlier announced during her election campaign in 2021 that she would switch ties to Beijing before later backtracking, wrote on Twitter that she had instructed her foreign minister to begin the process of recognising the People’s Republic of China.

“The move was a sign of my determination to comply with the government plan and expand borders freely,” the president remarked.

The decision comes weeks after her government announced it was negotiating with China to build a hydroelectric dam called Patuca II.

Since Mr. Tsai Ing-wen became President of Taiwan in 2016, China has been attempting to strengthen ties with Taiwan’s remaining allies. Several countries, including the Solomon Islands, have switched their ties from Taiwan to China.

China does not usually allow countries with which it has diplomatic relations to maintain official ties with Taiwan.

Taiwan’s foreign ministry urged Honduras to reconsider its decision to build relations with China and not “fall into China’s trap.”

“China’s only purpose in building ties with Honduras is to squeeze Taiwan’s international space, and China has no intention of fostering the wellbeing of the Honduran people,” the ministry noted in a statement.

At present, Taiwan has diplomatic relations with Eswatini, the Holy See, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, Tuvalu, Belize, Guatemala, Haiti, Paraguay, Honduras, the Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis, St. Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

Taiwan will have formal diplomatic ties with only 13 countries if Honduras breaks off its relations with the country.

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