Honduras Desires To Establish Diplomatic Ties With China; Is It Friendship Or A ‘Trap’ By China, Doubts Taiwan!

Hours after, the leader of the Central American state of Honduras tweeted that her government will start talks to open official relations with its Chinese counterpart. China then praised the Honduran government for choosing to establish links with Beijing, perhaps signaling the end of its long-standing diplomatic ties with Taiwan. In an earlier tweet from the Honduran president, Xiaomaro Castro stated that she had told Eduardo Reina, the minister of foreign affairs, to begin talks with China. She intended to freely increase frontiers while maintaining good relations with other nations.

The new friendship displays rational opportunities.

Eduardo Reina asserted that the choice was driven by “pragmatism, not ideology” and the debt of the country. Reina said that Honduras’ requirements for energy, social programs, and debt repayment were “drowning” the country. He said that Honduras’ $20 billion foreign and domestic debt must be repaid this year in addition to the $2.2 billion it paid last year. Several countries have diplomatic ties with mainland China, and Honduras “had to make that decision” due to economic realities, according to Reina.

Heartfelt acceptance from Chinese counterpart.

Wang Wenbin, a spokesman for the Chinese foreign ministry, said Beijing welcomed the declaration from Honduras. According to Wang, China is open to forging friendly ties with other countries, including Honduras, under the one-China concept. According to Wang, the fact that 181 countries have established diplomatic ties with China based on the one-China concept demonstrates that this was the right decision for the moment.

Break of old friendships for Honduras?

The democratically-ruled island Taiwan will only have 13 friends left if the Honduran government follows through on its plan to break ties with Taiwan. These allies are mostly found in the following.

• Latin America. 
• The Caribbean islands. 
• The Pacific area.
• One each in Africa and Europe. 

A message displaying an alert by Taiwan.

The Chinese government’s interest in forging connections with Honduras is solely motivated by its desire to limit Taiwan’s foreign space. According to a statement from the Taiwanese foreign ministry, China has absolutely no intention of fostering collaboration that enhances the well-being of the Honduran people. Taiwan urged Honduras to carefully assess the circumstances to avoid falling into China’s trap and making a bad choice that would endanger its many periods of bilateral relations with Taiwan, according to the statement.

Taiwan responded to Castro’s declaration by advising the Central American government not to fall into China’s “trap”. No government has ever had formal diplomatic relations with both China and Taiwan at the same time. So, will Honduras have to break its good ties with Taiwan to befriend the dragon country China?

Examples of China showing a habit of retaliation over new connections between Taiwan and a third country.

After Lithuania, a country of 2.8 million, let Taiwan open a “Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania” – a de facto embassy – in the nation’s capital Vilnius, relations between China and Lithuania deteriorated in 2021. China’s response was to cut diplomatic ties with the Baltic state.

Beijing, which had long pressured Taiwan’s friends, replaced them with relations.

• Costa Rica broke diplomatic connections with Taipei in 2007.
• Panama in 2017.
• El Salvador in 2018.
• Nicaragua in 2021.

Moreover, China has been charged with utilizing bribes to further its diplomatic objectives. David Panuelo, the departing leader of Micronesia, last week accused China of engaging in “political warfare” by trying to stop the Pacific nation from transferring its allegiance from Beijing to Taipei.

Why Are China-Taiwan Relations So Tensed?

Despite Taiwan’s independence from China in 1949, Beijing still regards the island as being a component of its territory. China has sworn to ultimately “unify” Taiwan with the mainland, if necessary, through the use of force. Anxieties are increasing. Beijing’s attempts to destroy democracy have been criticized by Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen’s independence-supporting party platform. Beijing is putting more political and military pressure on Taipei.

With Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen’s victory in 2016, cross-strait tensions have risen. Tsai has rejected a plan that Ma Ying-jeou, her predecessor, supported to promote stronger connections across the Taiwan Strait. In the meanwhile, Beijing has been behaving increasingly forcefully, including flying fighter jets next to the island.

The final verdict behind such an announcement.

The abrupt announcement by the president of Honduras comes weeks before Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen’s trip to Central America, which also includes a stopover in the US, during which she is due to visit Guatemala and Belize. China is sure to take offense at this time. In the past, when Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the US House, visited the island in 2022, tensions between the two governments grew. And now, most importantly, she will travel to the United States and meet with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, which is sure to irritate Beijing.

Edited by Prakriti Arora