Honduras turns back on Taiwan to establish ties with China

The move comes just weeks after Tegucigalpa said that it was negotiating with Beijing for finance to build a hydroelectric dam.

Xiomara Castro says she instructed Foreign Minister Eduardo Reina ‘to undertake the opening of official relations with the People's Republic of China’. Picture: AFP

The Central American country of Honduras will establish diplomatic relations with China in a move that severs its longstanding ties with Taiwan.

President Xiomara Castro tweeted on Tuesday (Wednesday AEDT) that she had instructed her Foreign Minister, Eduardo Reina, “to undertake the opening of official relations with the People’s Republic of China”.

The move comes just weeks after her government announced that it was negotiating with China for finance to build a hydroelectric dam in Honduras called Patuca II.

Under Beijing’s “One China” policy, no country may maintain official diplomatic relations with both China and Taiwan.

Honduras is one of only 14 countries that officially recognises Taiwan, a self-ruled island that China considers part of its territory to be retaken one day, by force if necessary. The Honduran government did not immediately confirm whether it had already ­officially severed ties with Taipei.

On Wednesday, Taiwan’s foreign ministry expressed “serious concern” at the announcement.

“We ask Honduras to carefully consider and do not fall into China’s trap and make the wrong decision to damage the long-term friendship between Taiwan and Honduras,” the ministry said.

Central American countries aligned with the US, which has a strong relationship with Taiwan despite diplomatically recognising Beijing, have maintained ties with Taipei for decades.

Latin America has been a key diplomatic battleground for China and Taiwan since the two split in 1949 after a civil war.

Honduras is among three Central American states – alongside Belize and Guatemala – that still recognise Taiwan.

It is one of its few remaining allies in Latin America after China poached Nicaragua, El Salvador, Panama, the Dominican Republic and Costa Rica in recent years.

Other Taiwan diplomatic allies include Paraguay, Haiti and seven small island nations in the Caribbean and the Pacific, including Marshall Islands and St Lucia.

In a bid to woo away Taiwan’s allies, China has stepped up investment in Latin American countries in recent years.

When announcing the plan to build the new dam in February, Honduran Foreign Minister Mr Reina said the project, financed by China, would help the country boost its energy supplies.

At the time, Mr Reina also denied speculation that Tegucigalpa was going to establish diplomatic relations with Beijing.

China has already financed the construction of another dam, dubbed Patuca III, thanks to a $US300m loan from Beijing.

Patuca III was inaugurated in 2021 by then-president Juan Orlando Hernandez.

Ms Castro, Honduras’s first ­female president, had promised during her campaign she would “immediately open diplomatic and trade relations with China”.

AFP