On the 26th, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang and Honduran Foreign Minister Reina signed a joint communiqué, deciding to establish diplomatic relations at the ambassadorial level from the date of signing the communiqué. Honduras severed so-called "diplomatic relations" with Taiwan on the same day. Qin Gang said that China appreciates the political decision made by the Honduran government. He also warned the Taiwan authorities that "Taiwan independence" separatism is doomed to a dead end.
Some experts in Taiwan believe that the follow-up may trigger a series of domino effects. Some analysts believe that the South American country of Paraguay may be the next country to announce the "severance of diplomatic relations" with Taiwan.
Qin Gang praised the Honduran political decision: to promote Sino-Hong Kong cooperation with a sense of urgency
When meeting reporters, Qin Gang stressed: The one-China principle is the universal consensus of the international community and the basic norm governing international relations. The political decision that Honduras has chosen to join 181 countries in the world in recognizing and committing itself to abide by the one-China principle and establish diplomatic relations with China without any preconditions fully conforms to the fundamental and long-term interests of the country and people of Honduras. This fully proves once again that adhering to the one-China principle is a correct choice that conforms to the general international righteousness and conforms to the trend of the times, and is the aspiration of the people and the trend of the times.
Qin Gang solemnly warned the Taiwan authorities that engaging in "Taiwan independence" separatist activities runs counter to the will and interests of the Chinese nation and goes against the trend of history, and is doomed to a dead end.
Qin Gang said that after the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, China is willing to actively carry out friendly exchanges at all levels and pragmatic cooperation in various fields with a sense of urgency on the basis of mutual respect, equality, mutual benefit and common development, so as to benefit the two countries and peoples. China welcomes the early visit of the President of Honduras to China and invites Honduras entrepreneurs to come to China to discuss cooperation in trade, investment, tourism and other fields.
Honduran Foreign Minister Reina said that the establishment of diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China is a historic step for Honduras, reiterating that it clearly knows that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China. Honduras hopes to carry out all-round cooperation with China in the fields of finance, trade, infrastructure, culture and tourism.
In recent years, Honduras has repeatedly expressed its intention to establish diplomatic relations with China
Honduras is located in northern Central America, bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south, and borders Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatemala. Honduras has weak overall national strength, lack of natural resources, limited market capacity, and poor social security, and is constrained by the International Monetary Fund, which makes it difficult to borrow abroad.
In 2009, after the military coup in Honduras, all political forces in the country reached a consensus on the country's constitutional system, and a smooth change of government was achieved.
Honduras' current president, Castro, said during his campaign that he was open to establishing diplomatic relations with Chinese mainland. But after her victory at the end of 2021, Honduran Vice President Nasrallah said that relations with Taiwan continued and did not want to oppose the United States.
Castro is not the first Honduran leader to propose diplomatic relations with Chinese mainland. Former Honduran President Hernandez also directly stated that he wanted to promote the normalization of diplomatic relations with China during his term of office.
Earlier, former Honduran President Sousa recalled officials in Taiwan in 2013 and publicly expressed openness to establishing diplomatic relations with China.
In recent years, positive progress has been made in economic and trade cooperation between Honduras and China. The Patuka Phase III hydropower project undertaken by Sinohydro International Engineering Corporation was completed at the end of 2020, and the Arenal hydropower station project is progressing smoothly. The Honduran government actively develops economic and trade relations with China, welcomes Chinese-funded enterprises to actively participate in the construction of power stations, ports, roads and other infrastructure, expands exports to China, attracts Chinese investment, and simplifies visa procedures to facilitate personnel exchanges between the Chinese side.
In January, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng and Honduran Foreign Minister Reina held a bilateral meeting in Brazil. Reina said after the meeting that it is important to develop trade and investment relations with Chinese enterprises, and talked about the dam project in Honduras, saying that he hoped that China would continue to participate in investment and construction.
Honduras and Taiwan "severed diplomatic relations", experts say that it may lead to a domino effect
The end of Taiwan's "official relationship" with Honduras for more than 80 years, experts say, could trigger a series of domino effects, and Lithuania was the "last straw" that caused the collapse of Taiwan's foreign relations.
Experts pointed out that the Tsai government did not hesitate to spend a lot of money to establish "official relations" with Lithuania, claiming that it could promote the development of both sides, but the result was almost nothing, which made other countries with "official relations" with Taiwan dissatisfied. It is rumored that the United States sent representatives to mediate, but it still could not prevent Hong Guo from deciding to "break off diplomatic relations", which shows that the influence of the United States in Central and South America is not as good as before.
Taiwan's former "representative abroad" Jie Wenji:
America's influence is waning not only in Central and South America, but around the world, and this has to do with its economic power. The problem is to help Taiwan make efforts to talk with Honduras, but Honduras or other Taiwan "diplomatic relations" are not core interests or important interests for the United States, and it is impossible to use its own resources to help Taiwan facilitate this matter. All it can do is convey some of Honduras' needs to the Tsai Ing-wen government, which will see for itself.
Some analysts believe that the South American country of Paraguay may be the next country to announce the "severance of diplomatic relations" with Taiwan. Ma Ying-jeou's office issued a statement on this issue, saying that this highlights Tsai Ing-wen's wrong policy line, and also highlights the importance of normalizing cross-strait relations.
Immediately after the statement issued by Ma Ying-jeou's office, the KMT also issued a press release expressing regret for "severing diplomatic relations" with Hong Guo, and at the same time condemning the ruling Democratic Progressive Party for its obsession with the wrong cross-strait and foreign-related line, which hurt Taiwan's interests and the morale of foreign-related personnel on the front line. The Kuomintang demanded that the DPP government seriously review the problems behind it to prevent Taiwan's foreign-related relations from being harmed again.
Central American Chinese are happy to see Honduras "severed diplomatic relations" with Taiwan
Overseas Chinese living in Central and South America were very happy when they learned the news of the "severance of diplomatic relations" between Honduras and Taiwan, and immediately relayed the news through WeChat and other social platforms, expressing their determination to resolutely oppose "Taiwan independence" and support the motherland to achieve complete peaceful reunification.
Tang Jinshui, President of the Central and South American Association for the Promotion of China's Peaceful Reunification:
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Honduras issued a statement announcing the severance of "diplomatic relations" with the Taiwan region, decisively taking the first crucial step, and more and more countries are rightly and boldly making friends with China and developing bilateral relations.
Source: Phoenix TV Information Station
Editor: Mumu