On March 26, 2023, China and Honduras established diplomatic relations, Honduras became China's 182nd country to establish diplomatic relations, and the major media across the country reported the news in a prominent position, and many people had questions, why has Honduras never heard of it, what kind of country is it, and why is the establishment of diplomatic relations with China so important.
Location of Honduras
First of all, let's take a look at what kind of country Dongduras is, Honduras is located in the north of Central America, covers an area of 112,500 square kilometers, and has a population of about 10.221 million as of 2022. It is bordered to the north by the Caribbean Sea, to the south by the Gulf of Fonseca in the Pacific Ocean, to the east and south by Nicaragua and El Salvador, and to the west by Guatemala. The coastline is 1,033 kilometers long, originally inhabited by Indians, and was adopted as a Spanish colony in the 16th century. Independence on September 15, 1821. It joined the Central American Federation in 1823. The Republic of Honduras was established after the dissolution of the Confederation in 1838.
Honduras
The United States is Honduras' most important economic and trade partner, with a total value of US$11.6 billion in bilateral trade in goods in 2021, accounting for about 40% of the country's gross domestic product (GDP); In the area of trade in services, U.S. exports to Honduras totaled $1.4 billion; In addition, the United States is Honduras' largest source of foreign direct investment (accounting for nearly two-thirds of the share), with a total of US$1.2 billion in all types of direct investment in 2021.
In addition to the data on paper, the socio-economic impact of the United States on Honduras is reflected in the free trade agreement, aid in various fields, and remittance income of overseas Chinese nationals in the United States. With the economy as the main channel, the United States can intervene in the social and political life of Honduras in all aspects. Therefore, before this, Honduras had been eyeing Taiwan under the influence of the United States, and in 1969, it "established diplomatic relations" with Taiwan, and as a "reward", Taiwan provided Honduras with 50 million US dollars in economic assistance every year.
However, in 2022, Honduras' trade with the mainland was $1.58 billion, while its trade with Taiwan was only $70 million. Not as much as ours, and in recent years, in order to "establish diplomatic relations" with Lithuania, a small European country, the Taiwan authorities have funded at least 1.2 billion US dollars, in exchange for Lithuania to set up a trade representative office in Taiwan, so Honduras feels "discriminated against", plus now China's influence in the world is increasing, and then engaging in this kind of ambiguous relationship with "Taiwan" will only be worth the loss, I am afraid that everyone will calculate this account.
The establishment of diplomatic relations with Honduras shows our strong international influence, because the establishment with China must recognize the "one-China" policy, in order to finally solve the Taiwan issue another international public opinion issue, at the same time, the establishment of diplomatic relations with China and Hong Kong is also a signal to the countries that have also "established diplomatic relations" with Taiwan, the benefits of establishing diplomatic relations with China are far greater than the ambiguity with Taiwan, and the establishment with China will not only obtain China's huge consumer market, but also use China's strong infrastructure capacity to strengthen national construction.
After Honduras and the Taiwan authorities "severed diplomatic relations," Taiwan was left with only 13 "countries with diplomatic relations," setting a new low record for the number of "countries with diplomatic relations." The 13 "countries with diplomatic relations" are: Nauru, Palau, Tuvalu, Marshall Islands, Belize, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Guatemala, Haiti, Paraguay, Saint Lucia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Eswatini, and the Vatican", but I believe that with China's growing strength, China has always adhered to the policy of peaceful diplomacy, and these countries will eventually break with Taiwan once and for all.
An increasingly powerful China