As we reported earlier this week, Honduras has decided to officially shift its diplomatic ties from Taiwan to China and the Chinese side have also been accused of doing the “dollar diplomacy” and helping fund the projects in Honduras to corner Taiwan on the political front. However, it seems as if the Chinese side has been successful in doing so as well because Honduras becomes the 9th country that has shifted its ties from Taiwan to China ever since the pro-independence leader of Taiwan, Tsai Ing-wen took oath.
Talking about the important thing, however, is that Honduras seems to have changed their opinion on Taiwan all of a sudden. The same country that was supporting Taiwan all this while has changed its tone. Honduras’ ministry statement said “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,” and added that “Taiwan is an inalienable part of Chinese territory, and as of today, the Honduran government has informed Taiwan the severance of diplomatic relations, pledging not to have any official relationship or contact with Taiwan.”
China has promised to build a hydroelectric dam in Honduras which is believed to be one of the main reasons why the country has shifted its ties from Taiwan to China. The ties between Honduras and Taiwan were first established in 1940s and they were intact ever since despite the Chinese pressure all this while. It is believed that Honduras even asked Taiwan to fund its projects including building the hydroelectric dam but Taiwan refused which is the reason why they shifted its official ties to China.
Obviously, the main opposition party of Taiwan KMT will not stay calm as the diplomatic allies of Taiwan have been leaving them. They blamed Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party for “a wrong and radical foreign policy resulting in the severance of diplomatic relations with nine countries in the past seven years”. However, it is worth noting that the KMT did not speak anything on “one China” statement made by Honduras.
