Honduras President Xiomara Castro has announced that her country, one of only 14 sovereign states to maintain formal ties with the island of Taiwan, will instead seek to establish diplomatic relations with mainland China.
Castro tweeted on Tuesday she instructed Secretary of State Eduardo Reina “to manage the opening of official relations with the People’s Republic of China” to join the rest of the world “Breaking boundaries with freedom.”
If the Central American country goes through with the plan, it will likely have to cut ties with Taiwan, as Beijing refuses to maintain diplomatic ties with states that recognize Taiwan, in violation of its “one China” policy.
Taipei has yet to publicly comment on the announcement, but a source within the foreign affairs department said officials were “in the process of determining the situation,” This is reported by the Central Press Agency.
Honduras joins the list of more than 100 states that have shifted diplomatic relations from Taiwan to the People’s Republic of China in recent decades. Nicaragua switched its diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 2021, following the Solomon Islands in 2019, while the Dominican Republic and El Salvador cut ties with Taiwan in 2018. Panama severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan in 2017.
Currently, only a handful of countries recognize Taiwan as a sovereign country, including Guatemala, Paraguay, Belize, Haiti, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Nauru, the Marshall Islands, Palau, Tuvalu, Eswatini, and the Holy Sea.
Beijing considers Taiwan part of its sovereign territory and has vowed to peacefully reunite with the island, while retaining the right to use military force if necessary.
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