Diplomatic Briefing
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Newsline: China says diplomatic deal with Honduras without conditions
China’s establishment of diplomatic relations with Honduras was a political decision without conditions attached, China’s foreign ministry said. “Diplomatic ties are not something for trade,” China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told a regular news briefing, in response to a question on whether China would give Honduras almost $2.5 billion the Central American country had earlier sought from Taiwan. (https://neuters.de/world/china/china-says-diplomatic-deal-with-honduras-political-decision-without-conditions-2023-03-27/) Honduran Foreign Minister Eduardo Enrique Reina wrote to Taiwan this month asking for almost $2.5 billion in aid, including a loan of $2 billion to help write off debt as well as funds for the construction of a hospital and a dam, according to copy of the letter seen by Reuters. Taiwan said in the days leading to China and Honduras announcing diplomatic ties that Chinese involvement was obvious, and that Taiwan would not engage in “meaningless” dollar diplomacy with China. Honduras announced at the weekend it had opened formal ties with Beijing and ended its decades-long relationship with Taiwan. Taiwan now has formal diplomatic relations with just 13 countries, mostly poor and developing nations in Central America, the Caribbean and the Pacific. Taipei and Beijing accuse each other of using “dollar diplomacy” in their competition for allies. China and Honduras signed the deal on diplomatic recognition in Beijing over the weekend, ending relations with Taiwan dating back to the 1940s.
Newsline: Taiwan told to vacate embassy in Honduras in 30 days
Taiwan must vacate its embassy in Honduras’ capital Tegucigalpa in 30 days, a senior Honduran official said on Monday, after President Xiomara Castro severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan in favor of China. Deputy Foreign Minister Antonio Garcia issued the order on local television on Monday, following the government’s announcement over the weekend that it had opened formal diplomatic relations with Beijing while simultaneously ending its decades-long relationship with Taiwan. (https://neuters.de/world/taiwan-told-vacate-embassy-honduras-after-ties-severed-2023-03-27/) Taipei’s embassy in the leafy Palmira neighborhood was for years one of the Central American capital’s most prominent foreign outposts, as well as the country’s second-biggest embassy after the U.S. embassy. In a statement late on Saturday, the Honduran foreign ministry said it recognized the People’s Republic of China, China’s formal name, as the only legitimate government that represents all of China and that Taiwan is an “inseparable part of Chinese territory.” The move left Taiwan with only 13 formal allies, mostly poor and developing countries in Central America, the Caribbean and the Pacific.
Newsline: China establishes diplomatic ties with Honduras
China established diplomatic ties with Honduras on Sunday after the Central American country ended its decades-long relationship with Taiwan. The ending of ties with Taiwan had been expected after the Honduran foreign minister travelled to China last week to open relations and President Xiomara Castro said her government would start ties with Beijing. China said its foreign minister, Qin Gang, and Honduran Foreign Minister Eduardo Enrique Reina signed the deal on diplomatic recognition in Beijing, ending relations with Taiwan dating back to the 1940s. In a brief statement late on Saturday, the Honduran foreign ministry said it recognised the People’s Republic of China as the only legitimate government that represents all of China and that Taiwan is an “inseparable part of Chinese territory”. (https://neuters.de/world/honduras-government-says-ending-diplomatic-ties-with-taiwan-2023-03-26/) China claims democratically ruled Taiwan as its own territory with no right to state-to-state ties, a position Taipei strongly rejects. China demands that countries with which it has ties to recognise its position.
Newsline: Honduras top diplomat travels to China
The Honduran foreign minister is travelling to China to “promote” the establishment of diplomatic ties, an official said, signalling the end is most likely near for the country’s decades-long relations with Taiwan. Honduran President Xiomara Castro tweeted last week her government would seek to open relations with China. “Foreign Minister Eduardo Enrique Reina on instructions from President Xiomara Castro travelled to China on Wednesday to promote efforts for the establishment of diplomatic relations,” presidential press secretary Ivis Alvarado said. China’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry said it had summoned in the Honduran ambassador to express its “strong dissatisfaction” at the trip which “seriously harmed the feelings of our government and people”. A source with direct knowledge of the situation told Reuters Reina and his delegation left for Beijing from Panama, accompanied by Chinese officials. (https://neuters.de/world/taiwan-says-chinas-involvement-honduras-is-very-obvious-2023-03-23/) The source declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the situation. A senior Taipei-based diplomatic source told Reuters that Reina going to China meant an announcement on forging relations was probably near.
Newsline: U.S. envoy to travel to Honduras as it eyes China ties
A high-ranking envoy of President Joe Biden will travel to Panama and Honduras this month, the U.S. Department of State said on Thursday, days after Taiwan ally Honduras said it would establish formal diplomatic ties with China. Chris Dodd, the U.S. special presidential adviser for the Americas, will visit the two Central American countries from March 17 to March 21, the department said in a statement. (https://neuters.de/world/us/us-americas-envoy-travel-panama-honduras-coming-days-2023-03-16/) In recent years, the United States has focused on migration and security challenges stemming from Central America, as well as trade and development priorities, but it has also been concerned about Chinese efforts to expand its influence in the region.
Newsline: Honduras eyes diplomatic relations with China
Honduran President Xiomara Castro said on Tuesday she had asked the country’s foreign minister to open official relations with China, pressuring Taiwan ahead of a sensitive visit by President Tsai Ing-wen to the United States and Central America. (https://neuters.de/world/americas/honduras-president-says-govt-seek-official-relations-with-china-2023-03-14/) China does not allow countries with which it has diplomatic relations to maintain official ties with Taiwan, which it claims as its own territory with no right to state-to-state ties, a position Taiwan strongly disputes. Castro had floated the idea of starting relations with China and cutting ties with Taiwan during her electoral campaign, but said in January 2022 she hoped to maintain ties with Taiwan. If the Central American country does end relations with Taiwan, it will leave the island with only 13 diplomatic allies.
Newsline: Peru ambassador to Honduras recalled
Peru withdrew its ambassador to Honduras, Jorge Raffo, due to Honduras’ “unacceptable interference” in the internal affairs of Peru, the South American nation’s foreign ministry said on Thursday. “As a consequence of the position adopted by Honduras, bilateral relations with said country will be maintained, indefinitely, at the level of chargé d’affaires,” the foreign ministry said on Twitter. (https://neuters.de/world/americas/peru-recalls-ambassador-honduras-unacceptable-interference-diplomatic-spat-2023-01-26/) The step is part of a deepening showdown between Peru President Dina Boluarte and her regional peers, including the leftist leaders of Mexico, Bolivia and Honduras. At the summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) in Argentina earlier this week, Honduran President Xiomara Castro called Boluarte’s ascension to power a “coup d’état.” Boluarte became president in December after Castillo attempted to illegally dissolve Congress, was ousted and detained. Boluarte has struggled to calm political unrest as protests have left dozens dead, although she has called on Congress to move up elections.
Newsline: Honduras summons U.S. ambassador for interference in internal affairs
The Government of Honduras has confirmed that the U.S. Ambassador in Tegucigalpa, Laura Dogu, has been summoned next Monday to the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in protest for her interference in internal affairs. As confirmed by the ruling Libre Party in its social networks, Dogu’s summons comes after the Honduran President, Xiomara Castro, gave this instruction to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Enrique Reina. “Enrique Reina summons the US ambassador to Honduras at 12:00 noon (local time) on October 31 to present a formal protest for her interference”, said Libre on its Twitter profile. (https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/honduras-summons-u-s-ambassador-for-interference-in-internal-affairs/ar-AA13ozRG) The call was announced just one day after the US diplomatic representative in Tegucigalpa expressed Washington’s concern about the treatment of foreign investors in Honduras, reports ‘La Tribuna’. “We are deeply concerned about reports from both U.S. and Honduran companies about increased land invasions and digital piracy,” Dogu said during a meeting with members of the Honduran-American Chamber of Commerce.
Newsline: Honduras to consider returning Israeli embassy to Tel Aviv from Jerusalem
Honduras is considering moving its embassy in Israel back to Tel Aviv, a year after moving it to Jerusalem, according to the Honduran foreign ministry. (https://news.yahoo.com/honduras-consider-returning-israeli-embassy-170817610.html) Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, a conservative who considered himself a close Washington ally, moved Honduras’s embassy in Israel to Jerusalem in 2021. The United States had moved its embassy to Jerusalem in 2018 under then-President Donald Trump, reversing decades of U.S. policy. Hernandez was extradited to the United States earlier this year on charges of drug trafficking. His successor, leftist Xiomara Castro, took office in January. “The issue of moving the embassy to Tel Aviv has already been discussed with President (Castro) and is a topic of interest to her, as well as maintaining a balanced relationship with the other Arab countries and Israel,” Honduran Foreign Minister Enrique Reina said in a statement. Reina discussed the issue in a meeting with Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki on Sunday in Bogota, where they were visiting for the inauguration ceremony of Colombian President Gustavo Petro. The United States, Honduras, Guatemala and Kosovo are the only countries with embassies in Jerusalem; other countries have them in Tel Aviv.
Newsline: Honduras to move embassy to Jerusalem by end of 2020
Honduras will move its embassy to Jerusalem this year, and Israel will open an embassy in the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa, the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement released early Monday. The two new embassies will open by the end of 2020, the statement said. (https://www.timesofisrael.com/honduras-to-move-embassy-to-jerusalem-by-end-of-2020-israel-says/#gs.g7wnl0) The announcement followed a Sunday conversation between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández. “With their flags flying in the capitals of the two countries, Israel and Honduras declare their intention to complete the action plan before the end of the current year, with a mutual opening and inauguration of their embassies in the national capitals, Tegucigalpa and Jerusalem,” the statement said. The statement from the Prime Minister’s Office said it was a joint announcement from the two countries, but Hernández issued a more tepid statement on Twitter, writing, “We hope to take this historic step before the end of the year, as long as the pandemic allows it.” The reason for the discrepancy was not immediately clear.
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