Source: World Wide Web
Honduras, a "friendly state" in Taiwan, will hold a presidential election in November this year. According to Reuters news on the 6th, the leader of the Liberal Reconstruction Party (LIBRE), a left-wing opposition party in Honduras, said on the 5th that if it wins the general election, it will seek a "readjustment" of the national debt and establish diplomatic relations with the Chinese mainland.
According to the report, the Liberal Reconstruction Party is led by former Honduran President Celaya, and the presidential candidate is Mara Castro Jr., Celaya's wife. On the 5th local time, Castro elaborated on her plan at a press conference at a hotel in the capital Tegucigalpa.
Castro at a press conference at a hotel in Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras, on the 5th
Honduras currently has "diplomatic relations" with Taiwan, but Castro said that if he wins the election, he will "immediately open up diplomatic and commercial relations with Chinese mainland."
The report also mentioned that Castro also said, "I will order an international audit of internal and external debt and make adjustments." According to the Honduran Ministry of Finance, its public debt will exceed $13 billion by the end of 2020, equivalent to 55% of its GDP. Honduras, one of the poorest countries in Central America, saw its GDP fall by 9 percent last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic and was hit hard by two hurricanes that ravaged Central America last November.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Financial Times reported in May that Government officials from Honduras, Taiwan's "country with diplomatic relations", said at the time that Honduras might "turn diplomatically" in order to obtain a mainland vaccine because of the lack of results in seeking help from the United States. Subsequently, a number of Taiwan media reported that Honduras said that it would assist in purchasing the mainland's new crown vaccine through neighboring El Salvador, and some Taiwan media said that another "country with diplomatic relations" in Taiwan had "foreign traffic traffic news" because of the vaccine. Also on May 11, Honduran President Hernandez said that in order to obtain a COVID-19 vaccine, Honduras may set up a commercial office in Chinese mainland.
Honduras is one of Taiwan's 15 "friendly countries", while El Salvador "broke diplomatic relations" with Taiwan in 2018. On August 21, 2018, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with El Salvadoran Foreign Minister Castaneda in Beijing. After the talks, the foreign ministers of the two countries signed the Joint Communiqué of the People's Republic of China and the Republic of El Salvador on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations.