Honduras announces the severance of its diplomatic relations with Taiwan

MADRID, 26 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Government of Honduras has announced this Saturday the rupture of its diplomatic relations with Taiwan, days after the Honduran president, Xiomara Castro, ordered to resume ties with China.

The Honduran Ministry of Foreign Affairs has indicated that the country's Executive "recognizes the existence of only one China in the world, and that the Government of the People's Republic of China is the only legitimate government that represents all of China."

"Taiwan is an inalienable part of Chinese territory," the ministerial portfolio said in a statement in which it also stressed that Tegucigalpa "undertakes not to have any official relationship or contact with Taiwan again."

Castro, in the announcement to resume relations with Beijing, maintained that he had made the decision "as a sign" of his "determination to comply with the Government Plan and expand the borders freely in concert with the nations of the world."

So, it was unknown how this decision would affect the relations of the Latin American country with Taipei, since China establishes ties with countries that do not recognize the island as an independent country.

For its part, the Taiwanese Foreign Ministry reacted to the announcement, asking the Honduran authorities to be "careful not to fall into China's trap and make a wrong decision that would damage the long friendship."

Following the Executive's decision, this week a delegation from the country, headed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Eduardo Enrique Reina, traveled to China with the aim of "advancing the start of relations between the two nations."

The rupture of relations between Honduras and Taiwan reduces to thirteen the number of countries that recognize the independence of the island. Since 2007, four other Latin American countries have cut ties with Taipei to establish relations with China (Costa Rica, in 2007; Panama, in 2017; El Salvador, in 2018; and Nicaragua, in 2021).