Taiwan is open to “any opportunity” to enhance ties with Honduras, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday, after a Honduran opposition leader said he would re-establish ties with Taipei if elected president next year.
The ministry said in a statement that it continues to uphold “honesty and openness” when engaging with countries around the world, including Honduras, a former diplomatic ally of Taiwan.
Taiwan “will not set any preconditions for establishing relations with a foreign country and has always taken seriously any opportunity to elevate its international status and expand its global presence,” the statement said.
Photo: Reuters
Former Honduran first vice president Salvador Nasralla is vying to be nominated by his party, Partido Liberal, to run for president.
In an interview on Saturday with local station Radio America, Nasralla, who served as first vice president from 2022 until his resignation early last year, pledged that if he won next year’s elections, he would re-establish diplomatic relations with Taiwan.
Honduras last year cut ties with Taipei to establish diplomatic relations with Beijing.
In the interview, Nasralla said he opposed the free-trade agreement (FTA) that the Honduran government intends to sign with China.
“Our trade with China does not need an FTA, and these quadrupeds of the government led by [Manuel] Zelaya are handing over the national territory to a power taking advantage of the ignorance of the people who govern the country today,” he said.
Zelaya, a former Honduran president, is the husband and main adviser to Honduran President Xiomara Castro.
Data showed that in 2022, Honduras’ exports to Taiwan totaled US$121 million, Nasralla said.
Exports to China were only US$11 million, while imports from China were more than US$200 million, he said.
Honduras and China have had an “unfavorable trade balance” since forming ties in March last year, Nasralla said.
Ending of diplomatic ties with Taiwan cost Honduras 8,000 jobs directly and 50,000 jobs indirectly in the shrimp industry alone, he said.
Nasralla also criticized the Castro administration for its FTA talks with China in a post on X on Thursday last week.
“Mainland China makes huge promises that in the end it does not fulfill, as Costa Rica, Panama and El Salvador have already proven,” Nasralla said, pointing to three of Taiwan’s former allies in the region.
In contrast, Honduras was able to enjoy stable shrimp exports to “our friends in Taiwan,” he said.
Citing Nasralla’s post, the ministry in its statement yesterday said that China had never fulfilled the promises it has made to Taiwan’s former allies in Latin America, including Honduras.
Additional reporting by Huang Ching-hsuan
A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck off Yilan at 11:05pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter was located at sea, about 32.3km east of Yilan County Hall, at a depth of 72.8km, CWA data showed There were no immediate reports of damage. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Yilan County area on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. It measured 4 in other parts of eastern, northern and central Taiwan as well as Tainan, and 3 in Kaohsiung and Pingtung County, and 2 in Lienchiang and Penghu counties and 1
FOREIGN INTERFERENCE: Beijing would likely intensify public opinion warfare in next year’s local elections to prevent Lai from getting re-elected, the ‘Yomiuri Shimbun’ said Internal documents from a Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) company indicated that China has been using the technology to intervene in foreign elections, including propaganda targeting Taiwan’s local elections next year and presidential elections in 2028, a Japanese newspaper reported yesterday. The Institute of National Security of Vanderbilt University obtained nearly 400 pages of documents from GoLaxy, a company with ties to the Chinese government, and found evidence that it had apparently deployed sophisticated, AI-driven propaganda campaigns in Hong Kong and Taiwan to shape public opinion, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported. GoLaxy provides insights, situation analysis and public opinion-shaping technology by conducting network surveillance
‘POLITICAL GAME’: DPP lawmakers said the motion would not meet the legislative threshold needed, and accused the KMT and the TPP of trivializing the Constitution The Legislative Yuan yesterday approved a motion to initiate impeachment proceedings against President William Lai (賴清德), saying he had undermined Taiwan’s constitutional order and democracy. The motion was approved 61-50 by lawmakers from the main opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the smaller Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), who together hold a legislative majority. Under the motion, a roll call vote for impeachment would be held on May 19 next year, after various hearings are held and Lai is given the chance to defend himself. The move came after Lai on Monday last week did not promulgate an amendment passed by the legislature that
Taiwan is gearing up to celebrate the New Year at events across the country, headlined by the annual countdown and Taipei 101 fireworks display at midnight. Many of the events are to be livesteamed online. See below for lineups and links: Taipei Taipei’s New Year’s Party 2026 is to begin at 7pm and run until 1am, with the theme “Sailing to the Future.” South Korean girl group KARA is headlining the concert at Taipei City Hall Plaza, with additional performances by Amber An (安心亞), Nick Chou (周湯豪), hip-hop trio Nine One One (玖壹壹), Bii (畢書盡), girl group Genblue (幻藍小熊) and more. The festivities are to
RSS