Taiwan recalls its ambassador to Honduras over officials’ visit to China

The visit of a Honduran delegation to China to discuss the establishment of diplomatic relations has caused the Taiwanese government to recall its ambassador Vivía Chun-fei Chang in the Central American country, as a sign of “its strong dissatisfaction”, reported Thursday the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) of Taiwan.

Last week, Honduran President Xiomara Castro tweeted that she had instructed the Honduran Secretary of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Eduardo Enrique Reina, to develop official relations with China, thereby ending recognition of Taiwan’s sovereignty.

In the last hours, Reina has left for China accompanied by Xiomara Hortencia Zelaya Castro, deputy for the ruling party Libertad y Refundación (Libre), and daughter of the presidential couple; and her uncle, also a ruling party deputy, Carlos Armando Zelaya Rosales, brother-in-law of President Castro.

The Taiwanese Foreign Ministry said that since Castro’s announcement, it “has continued dialogue with Honduras on the maintenance of diplomatic relations and has reiterated the risks of blindly relying on China’s commitments regarding diplomatic relations”.

According to Taiwanese officials, by sending Foreign Minister Reina to China, “the government of Honduras is ignoring the diplomatic friendship between Taiwan and Honduras that has endured for more than 80 years.”

“Honduras is also ignoring the achievements of long-standing cooperation between our nations, as well as Taiwan’s goodwill in assisting to help solve Honduras’ problems.”

HONDURAS HAS NOT MADE OFFICIAL THE END OF RELATIONS WITH TAIWAN

Earlier this week, MOFA said Honduras had not delivered any official documents to Taiwan regarding the termination of the diplomatic alliance.

Regarding the statement that Chancellor Reina gave to local media that Taiwan has resorted to Ecuador, a diplomatic ally of China, to acquire white shrimp, “the reality is that the prices of Honduran exporters are above the market price, and therefore, this change is due solely to market mechanisms,” responded the government of the Asian island.

Regarding Honduras’ plan to export white shrimp to China, Taiwan reminded the Honduran government that under international market mechanisms, Honduran products will now face greater competition in China.

In Taiwan, Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said that Honduras “asked a high price” for maintaining diplomatic ties with Taipei while adding that Taiwan “will not enter into the game of monetary diplomacy” of Beijing, suppressing Taiwan’s diplomatic space.

The official said there are signs of Chinese intervention in Honduras, but Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin denied Thursday that Beijing influenced the Central American country’s decision.

Honduras’s end of the relationship with Taiwan reduces to 13 the number of countries with which it maintains diplomatic relations, two of them in Central America: Belize and Guatemala.

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen will leave on March 29 on a 10-day trip to strengthen ties with two of its remaining allies, Belize and Guatemala, and will also stop in the United States while in transit.

With information from Bloomberg