Honduran presidential candidate Xiomara Castro has not made a final decision on whether to recognize China over Taiwan, a close aide said on Tuesday ahead of Sunday elections in which the question has emerged as a major issue.
Libre party candidate Castro faces the ruling National Party’s Nasry Asfura in the presidential vote, with a poll last month showing the opposition contender with a commanding double-digit lead.
“There isn’t a definitive decision,” said Hugo Noe, a Castro adviser who leads her platform-writing team.
Photo: AFP
Asfura has not taken a position on the diplomatic tug-of-war.
Honduras is one of just 15 countries that maintain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan.
Castro, the wife of former Honduran president Manuel Zelaya, had previously said that if victorious, she would switch the Central American country’s diplomatic relations to Beijing.
Photo: Reuters
Castro’s final decision would depend on “the advantages and disadvantages that other sectors might propose,” Noe said, adding that further consultations would be carried out.
Earlier this month, Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez visited Taipei, expressing his desire that Honduras would continue its friendship with the nation.
China’s efforts to win over Taiwan’s remaining allies have worried the US.
“That would be one of the elements to be evaluated,” Noe said, referring to US sensitivities. “We would have to take those elements into account, because other things, like Honduran [migrants] in the United States, our trade ties, would also be at stake.”
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