Honduran president calls for diplomatic relations with China

March 15 (UPI) -- Honduran President Xiomara Castro on Wednesday said her government would seek diplomatic relations with China, effectively cutting ties with Taiwan.

Castro said she had instructed Foreign Minister Eduardo Reina to manage the opening of official relations with the People's Republic of China "as a sign of my determination to comply with the Government Plan and expand our borders freely in concert with the nations of the world."

Castro said the break with Taiwan, with which Honduras had had diplomatic relations since 1985, was in line with promises included in her Bicentennial Plan to Rebuild Honduras.

She said she would seek to "establish the most cordial and friendly diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China and with the communities of Asian and African countries that want to interact with us."

Castro, a democratic socialist, said during her campaign that she would look to establish diplomatic ties with Beijing but then reaffirmed the central American country's ties with Taiwan after coming to office in January 2022.

The move would cut the number of countries that recognize Taiwan, which broke away from China in 1949 following the founding of the communist People's Republic, to 13.

China's ascent to become the world's second-largest economy has seen it leverage that newfound power in ramping up efforts to persuade a number of countries to ditch Taiwan and in favor of ties with Beijing.

The most recent nations to jump ship are Nicaragua in 2021 and the Solomon Islands in 2019.

Most of the nations that maintain diplomatic relations with Taipei over Beijing are in Central and South America or island nations in the Caribbean and Pacific.

The continuation of ties between Taiwan and Paraguay, which established diplomatic relations with Taipei in 1957, hinges on the outcome of elections next month in which the main opposition candidate has pledged to switch recognition to Beijing.

President Mario Abdo Benitez, a staunch supporter of Taiwan, praised the island as a "lighthouse of democracy" during a visit last month.

But opposition leader Efrain Alegre says he will cut ties with Taipei because of the economic benefits that establishing relations with Beijing will bring.