The government yesterday recalled its ambassador to Honduras after the Central American nation sent its foreign minister to China, signaling that it would sever diplomatic ties with Taiwan.
Suspicions concerning ties with Honduras are rife after Honduran President Xiomara Castro on Tuesday last week wrote on Twitter that her country would pursue diplomatic ties with China.
Honduran Minister of Foreign Affairs Eduardo Enrique Reina traveled to China on Wednesday “to promote efforts for the establishment of diplomatic relations” on instructions from Castro, Reuters yesterday quoted Honduran presidential spokesman Ivis Alvarado as saying.
Photo: AFP
The government “has decided to immediately recall the ambassador to Honduras to express our strong dissatisfaction,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
Sending its foreign minister to China to discuss the establishment of diplomatic ties “seriously hurt the feelings of the Taiwanese government and people,” the ministry said.
The Honduran government is disregarding the friendship with Taiwan that has lasted for more than 80 years, and it is ignoring Taiwan’s long-term assistance and goodwill in helping solve the country’s problems, it added.
Mainland Affairs Council Deputy Minister Jan Jyh-horng (詹志宏) said that he “really has no comment” on China allegedly spending 10 billion to 20 billion yuan (US$1.46 billion to US$2.95 billion) to establish diplomatic relations considering its dire financial situation.
Honduras reportedly demanded US$2.5 billion in aid from Taiwan prior to the announcement, which Reina denied, saying that it was “not a donation,” but rather a “negotiated refinancing mechanism,” Reuters reported on Wednesday.
Communication between Taiwan and Honduras has been documented and the facts would eventually come to light, the ministry said.
The ministry has been communicating with Honduras since the announcement, which has “proven difficult,” it said.
“Honduras has asked Taiwan for large amounts of money,” Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) told reporters at the legislature in Taipei yesterday, without confirming the exact figure.
The request came in the absence of a concrete plan for Taiwan to help Honduras, and the amount was beyond what Taiwan could do, he said.
Taiwan would not engage in “dollar diplomacy” with China, he said, adding that “the situation is dire.”
“China is clearly involved” in Honduras’ move to switch ties to Beijing, he said, adding that the ministry and Taiwan’s embassy in Honduras would “strive until the last moment.”
Honduras’ move came ahead of President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) planned trip to Central America beginning on Wednesday next week.
Beijing “welcomes Honduras’ positive stance on developing relations with China,” Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Wang Wenbin (汪文斌) said yesterday.
Asked whether China was supporting Honduras to request extortionate aid from Taiwan, he said that the allegation was “very absurd and out of thin air.”
While China continues to suppress Taiwan in the international community, Taiwanese should work even harder to nurture friendship and seek opportunities globally, Wu said.
In the face of complex challenges, the ministry would uphold the spirit of tenacity, flexibility and professionalism to promote “practical diplomacy,” he said.
Additional reporting by CNA and Reuters
‘TAIWAN-FRIENDLY’: The last time the Web site fact sheet removed the lines on the US not supporting Taiwanese independence was during the Biden administration in 2022 The US Department of State has removed a statement on its Web site that it does not support Taiwanese independence, among changes that the Taiwanese government praised yesterday as supporting Taiwan. The Taiwan-US relations fact sheet, produced by the department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, previously stated that the US opposes “any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side; we do not support Taiwan independence; and we expect cross-strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means.” In the updated version published on Thursday, the line stating that the US does not support Taiwanese independence had been removed. The updated
‘CORRECT IDENTIFICATION’: Beginning in May, Taiwanese married to Japanese can register their home country as Taiwan in their spouse’s family record, ‘Nikkei Asia’ said The government yesterday thanked Japan for revising rules that would allow Taiwanese nationals married to Japanese citizens to list their home country as “Taiwan” in the official family record database. At present, Taiwanese have to select “China.” Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said the new rule, set to be implemented in May, would now “correctly” identify Taiwanese in Japan and help protect their rights, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. The statement was released after Nikkei Asia reported the new policy earlier yesterday. The name and nationality of a non-Japanese person marrying a Japanese national is added to the
AT RISK: The council reiterated that people should seriously consider the necessity of visiting China, after Beijing passed 22 guidelines to punish ‘die-hard’ separatists The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has since Jan. 1 last year received 65 petitions regarding Taiwanese who were interrogated or detained in China, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. Fifty-two either went missing or had their personal freedoms restricted, with some put in criminal detention, while 13 were interrogated and temporarily detained, he said in a radio interview. On June 21 last year, China announced 22 guidelines to punish “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists,” allowing Chinese courts to try people in absentia. The guidelines are uncivilized and inhumane, allowing Beijing to seize assets and issue the death penalty, with no regard for potential
‘UNITED FRONT’ FRONTS: Barring contact with Huaqiao and Jinan universities is needed to stop China targeting Taiwanese students, the education minister said Taiwan has blacklisted two Chinese universities from conducting academic exchange programs in the nation after reports that the institutes are arms of Beijing’s United Front Work Department, Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) said in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) published yesterday. China’s Huaqiao University in Xiamen and Quanzhou, as well as Jinan University in Guangzhou, which have 600 and 1,500 Taiwanese on their rolls respectively, are under direct control of the Chinese government’s political warfare branch, Cheng said, citing reports by national security officials. A comprehensive ban on Taiwanese institutions collaborating or
RSS