outgoing Honduran president said on Nov. 13 that he hopes his country will continue its friendship with Taiwan even after his presidency, with his comments coming as the Central American country could switch its diplomatic recognition to Beijing.
“We are real friends,” Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez told Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen on the second day of a three-day surprise visit to Taiwan. “Only real friendship can be seen at difficult times,” he said at the presidential office in Taipei.
“We hope to deepen such friendship and diplomatic ties either within or after my presidency,” said Hernandez, who is completing the second of his two four-year terms and is due to leave office in January.
Hernandez visited Taiwan as president in 2015 and 2016, after a previous visit as the speaker of the Central American country’s Parliament in 2010, according to the Taipei-based Central News Agency.
Tsai called Hernandez’s arrival “significant,” because it is the first trip made by any of Taiwan’s Latin American allies since the COVID-19 outbreak. Tsai said she hopes the two countries will continue to “help each other” on the international stage.
Despite the meeting celebrating 80 years of diplomatic relations between the two nations, their future ties are now in doubt as Hernandez’s party faces a tough challenge in an upcoming election to retain the presidency.
A leading candidate backed by the main opposition parties in Honduras vowed to establish an official relationship with China if elected, which means the country will no longer recognize Taiwan as an independent country.
presidential candidate, Xiomara Castro, also said she will legalize abortion in some situations.
Honduras is currently one of just 15 countries that maintain formal diplomatic ties with the self-governed island, which Beijing claims as its breakaway territory, to be reunified by force if necessary.
Chinese regime has been using diplomatic and economic methods to win over the remaining allies. Seven countries changed recognition from Taipei to Beijing from 2016 to 2019. Honduras, among a small number of Latin American countries to maintain diplomatic ties with democratic Taiwan, has been under pressure to switch.
While neighboring nations received COVID-19 vaccines from Beijing, countries such as Honduras and Guatemala did not, although Beijing denied the so-called “vaccine diplomacy” is to gain geopolitical clout.
In a regular session of the United Nations in September, Honduras did not vocally support Taiwan’s international inclusion, marking the sixth consecutive year that the Central American ally refrained from doing so.
Taiwan had accused China of seeking to use the Honduran election to “create controversy” and warned Honduras not to be drawn in by Beijing’s “flashy and false” promises.
“I expect Taiwan and Honduras will continue to support each other and make progress in future developments,” Tsai said on Nov. 13 while expressing her wish for a smooth presidential election.
re has been widespread speculation about Hernandez’s future and whether a Castro government would allow for him to be extradited to the United States, where he is a target of a narcotics investigation. president has vehemently denied any links to drugs cartels.
Three of Hernandez’s children are currently studying or working in Taiwan, according to Taiwan presidential office spokesman Xavier Chang.
China’s Foreign Ministry has not commented on Hernandez’s trip to Taiwan.
Reuters contributed to this report.
Pezou : ‘We Are Real Friends,’ Honduran President Says on 4th Visit to Taiwan Before Leaving Office