Taiwan FM suspects timing of Honduran ties cut linked to president's US trip
ROC Central News Agency
03/26/2023 01:15 PM
Taipei, March 26 (CNA) Taiwan's Foreign Minister Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) on Sunday said he suspected that the timing of Honduras' announcement to cut diplomatic relations with Taiwan is correlated to President Tsai Ing-wen's (蔡英文) upcoming trip to visit Central American allies, with stopovers in the United States.
"I don't have any evidence that they are correlated but [it is] highly suspicious," Wu told reporters at a press conference in Taipei, when asked if the announcement has been intentionally time to come ahead of Tsai's planned visit to Guatemala and Belize, with stopovers in New York and Los Angeles, before and after the state visits.
Wu alleged that Beijing always likes to use such overseas visits by Taiwan's senior officials "to distort our diplomatic relations" and since Tsai's upcoming visit is being made public, "China seems to be doing this intentionally," he said.
Tsai's trip was announced only five days ago and Honduras' government had said its decision was in the interest of its country. It is believed that businesses in Honduras had pressured the government to establish ties with Beijing in order for them to gain greater access to the Chinese market.
Wu said Sunday that Honduras President Xiomara Castro had raised the issue of switching ties even before the presidential election in Honduras in 2021.
Taiwan's government announced on March 21 that Tsai will embark on a 10-day trip to diplomatic allies Guatemala and Belize on March 29 for talks with government officials and members of the overseas Taiwanese community.
Tsai last made a tour of countries that maintain diplomatic relations with Taiwan in July 2019, when she visited Haiti, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and St. Lucia in the Caribbean.
Wu made his remarks during a press event to announce the ending of the 82-year-old diplomatic ties between Honduras and the Republic of China (ROC), the official name of Taiwan. Relations were established long before the ROC relocated to Taiwan.
The Central American nation announced earlier on Sunday that it had formally cut ties with the ROC, more than a week after Castro said her administration was seeking formal relations with Beijing.
"The government of the Republic of Honduras 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," the Honduran government said in a statement.
It added that "Taiwan is an inalienable part of Chinese territory, and as of today, the Honduran government has informed Taiwan of the severance of diplomatic relations, pledging not to have any official relationship or contact with Taiwan."
A Honduran delegation headed by Foreign Minister Eduardo Enrique Reina arrived in Beijing earlier this week to sign a communique on the establishment of diplomatic relations with his Chinese counterpart. The joint communique was signed Sunday in Beijing, according to Chinese media reports.
Honduras's move leaves Taiwan with only 13 countries in the world that officially recognize the Republic of China as a nation. Taipei has lost nine diplomatic allies to Beijing since President Tsai first took office in May 2016.
Despite losing official allies, Taiwan has unofficial close relations with many countries, including the United States.
(By Joseph Yeh)
Enditem/cs
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