On March 25, local time, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Honduras issued a statement officially announcing the severance of "diplomatic relations" with Taiwan.
The statement said that there is only one China in the world, the People's Republic of China is the sole legitimate government representing China, and Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory. As of today, Honduras severed "diplomatic relations" with Taiwan and ceased all contacts and official contacts with Taiwan.
The spokesperson of the Foreign Ministry made a statement on the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Honduras
On 26 March, China and Honduras signed the Joint Communiqué between the People's Republic of China and the Republic of Honduras on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations. The two Governments decided to recognize each other and establish diplomatic relations at ambassadorial level from the date of the signing of the communiqué.
It is an irrefutable historical and legal fact that there is only one China in the world, that the Government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legitimate Government representing the whole of China and that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory. The one-China principle, affirmed in General Assembly resolution 2758 of 1971, is the universal consensus of the international community and the universally recognized basic norm governing international relations.
Honduras is an important country in Central America. The Government of Honduras has chosen to stand with 181 countries in the world, recognizing and undertaking to abide by the one-China principle, to sever so-called "diplomatic relations" with Taiwan, to establish diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China, and to undertake not to engage in any official relations with Taiwan or to conduct any official exchanges. This is the right choice to conform to the general trend and conform to the will of the people. China highly appreciates this.
On the basis of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, China is willing to strengthen friendly cooperation in various fields with Hong Kong for the benefit of the two countries and peoples.
After the DPP came to power, Taiwan's so-called "countries with diplomatic relations" fell off a cliff, and only 13 remained
Before Honduras, the most recent country to "sever diplomatic relations" with Taiwan was Nicaragua. In December 2021, Nicaragua "severed diplomatic relations" with Taiwan for the second time in 36 years, saying in a statement that there is only one China in the world and that the People's Republic of China is the sole legitimate government representing the Chinese government.
Taiwan's so-called "countries with diplomatic relations" have chosen to "sever diplomatic relations" with Taiwan and have become the norm to establish diplomatic relations with Chinese mainland. Solomon Islands announced on September 16, 2019 that it had "severed diplomatic relations" with Taiwan, and only four days later, Kiribati also announced that it had "severed diplomatic relations" with Taiwan. Solomon Islands and Kiribati established diplomatic relations with Chinese mainland on September 21 and 27, 2019, respectively.
Going back further, Dominica, Burkina Faso, El Salvador in 2018, Panama in 2017, and Sao Tome and Principe in 2016 have chosen to "break off diplomatic relations" with Taiwan.
Since the DPP came to power in 2016, Taiwan's so-called "countries with diplomatic relations" have fallen from 22 to 13 at present, of which 4 are located in the Asia-Pacific region and 7 in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Phoenix Watch: The United States failed to pressure and said it "respected" Honduras' decision to establish diplomatic relations with China.
Biden sent his close friends to try to persuade Hong to retract its decision before formally signing an agreement with China on the establishment of diplomatic relations. However, the Honduran Foreign Minister said on the 20th that the United States "respects" the Honduran decision. What does this round of interaction between the United States and Honduras reflect? The following is an excerpt from the analysis and comments of Mr. Sun Yanfeng, Deputy Director of the Institute of Latin American Studies of the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations——
Indeed, the US statement this time is somewhat dramatic. Because judging from the cases of pressure exerted by the United States in the past few years, they are generally imposing, and even tear their faces with the countries concerned. But this time the results were unexpected, probably for two reasons:
First, President Castro of Honduras met with Dude, and the two sides could communicate directly in Spanish, and President Castro could clearly and clearly express the firm determination and reasons of the Honduran side to establish diplomatic relations with the mainland.
Second, judging from the statement of Foreign Minister Reina of Honduras, saying that the US side "respects" may save face for the US side, because the US pressure this time has been fruitless.
Honduras has very close economic and trade cooperation with the United States, including other Chinese and American countries that have a strong dependence on the United States. But even under such close economic and trade relations, President Castro still firmly rejected the US suppression, reflecting her belief that the establishment of diplomatic relations with the mainland may bring more benefits and development opportunities to Honduras, far greater than the so-called "benefits" that Honduras gets from the United States. This reflects an important signal that the direct influence and indirect control of the United States over Honduras are significantly declining.
Source: Phoenix TV Information Station
Editor: Mumu