Following the Honduran government’s announcement to establish relations with Beijing, Taiwan asked to “consider carefully and not fall into China’s trap and make the wrong decision.”
Por: Katerin Galo
Tegucigalpa. -After Honduras announced the establishment of relations with the People’s Republic of China, representatives of the United States government have come forward questioning the decision of the Central American country.
In messages issued via Twitter, the United States Senate Relations Committee (SFRC) urged Hondurans “to be diligent in protecting their sovereignty and human rights, even as relations deepen.” with one of the most autocratic regimes in the world.”
They also accused China of maintaining a campaign to eliminate Taiwan’s diplomatic allies, so that “Honduras’ decision to align itself with Beijing will have implications that will last far beyond the current leadership.”
The US Senate Relations Committee further noted that the decision to recognize Beijing is not about competition between the US and China, but about the kind of future Hondurans want to build for themselves and their children.
In the same way, the Republican senator of the State of Louisiana Bill Cassidy affirmed that the actions of the president, Xiomara Castro, decrease confidence in Honduras.
In addition, he warned that Hondurans will suffer from the “failed leadership” of President Castro.
The United States’ reaction arose after President Xiomara Castro announced on Tuesday that she had instructed Foreign Minister Eduardo Enrique Reina to carry out the necessary steps to establish relations with the People’s Republic of China.
“RELATIONS WITH CHINA IS A DECISION MADE”
This Wednesday, Honduran Foreign Minister Eduardo Enrique Reina stated, in a television program, that the establishment of relations between Honduras and China is a decision taken, which has been discussed for a year with the president of the Central Bank of Honduras (BCH) Rebeca Saints; the Secretary of Finance, Rixi Moncada and the Minister of Economic Development, Pedro Barquero.
He also specified that the establishment of relations with the People’s Republic of China is contemplated in the Government Plan, in fact, he already had a conversation with the Chinese ambassador in Costa Rica, Tang Heng, to initiate diplomatic approaches for the signing of the agreements that are necessary to seek solutions on energy issues, social policies and the overwhelming debt of the Honduran State.
Reina also confessed that the Government proposed to Taiwan a mechanism to retake or realign the debt, but the response was not positive.
In this sense, he explained that only in 2022 53 billion lempiras were invested just to pay off the private debt and in 2023 more than 57 billion lempiras must be paid, this being one of the reasons that has motivated the president Honduran, for the opening of relations with the People’s Republic of China.
For Reina, the interest in relations with China is not only economic and commercial, but also diplomacy and politics, since the Asian giant participates in international organizations such as the United Nations Organization (UN) and in other spaces. economic and financial.
TAIWAN ASKS HONDURAS NOT TO FALL INTO CHINA’S “TRAP”
international media They reported that Foreign Relations of Taiwan ask the Government of Honduras to “consider carefully and not fall into China’s trap and make the wrong decision.”
The Taiwanese diplomatic representation expressed its “serious concern” at the announcement made by the Honduran authorities, when trying to establish diplomatic relations with China, which would imply the rupture of those that it now maintains with the self-governing island.
A RELATIONSHIP OF DECADES ON THE POINT OF BREAKING
So far only 14 countries have relations with Taiwan, including Guatemala, Belize, Paraguay, Haiti and Honduras, but this could change.
After a diplomatic and economic relationship of more than 80 years, Honduras is moving away from Taiwan, due to the announcement by President Xiomara Castro to strengthen ties with the People’s Republic of China. The break between Honduras and Taiwan is imminent since it is a condition sine qua non of the Asian giant.
Although the relations were not established in the first year of the Castro government, the approaches of the Honduran Foreign Ministry have always been on the agenda.
On January 1, within the framework of the inauguration of the Brazilian President, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the Honduran Foreign Minister Eduardo Enrique Reina and the Chinese Vice Foreign Minister, Ma Zhaoxu, discussed the possibility of Honduras establishing relations with the asian country
At that time, Reina explained that during the meeting they discussed commercial investment, particularly China’s support for hydroelectric projects in Honduras.
In a timely manner, the director of Governance and Transparency of the Association for a Fairer Society (ASJ), Lester Ramírez, stated that opening relations with China is ending ties with Taiwan.
Ramírez details that China’s policy does not accept having relations with governments that recognize Taiwan, because Beijing considers Taiwan a rebel province.
