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
NETWORK-MAPPING PROJECT: The database contains 170 detailed files of Taiwanese politicians and about 23 million records of household registration data in Taiwan China has developed a network-mapping project targeting political figures and parties in Taiwan to monitor public opinion during elections and to craft tailored influence campaigns aimed at dividing Taiwanese society, according to documents leaked by Chinese technology firm GoLaxy (中科天璣). The documents, collected by Taipei-based Doublethink Lab, showed a database was specifically created to gather detailed information on Taiwanese political figures, including their political affiliations, job histories, birthplaces, residences, education, religion and a brief biography about them. Several notable Taiwanese politicians are in the database, including President William Lai (賴清德), former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍),
RECOGNITION: Former Fijian prime minister Mahendra Chaudhry said that Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy serves as a stabilizing force in the Indo-Pacific region Taiwan can lead the unification of the Chinese people, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and former Polish president Lech Walesa said in Taipei yesterday, adding that as the world order is changing, peaceful discussion would find good solutions, and that the use of force and coercion would always fail. Walesa made the remarks during his keynote address at a luncheon of the Yushan Forum in Taipei, titled “Indo-Pacific Partnership Prospects: Taiwan’s Values, Technology and Resilience,” organized by the Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Walesa said that he had been at the forefront of a big peaceful revolution and “if
UPGRADED MISSILE: The Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology is reportedly to conduct a live-fire test of the Hsiung Feng III anti-ship missile on Thursday next week The US Army is planning to build new facilities to boost explosives production and strengthen its supply chain, a move aimed at addressing munitions shortages and supporting obligations to partners including Taiwan, Ukraine and Israel, Defense News reported. The army has issued a sources sought notice for a proposed Center of Excellence at the Blue Grass Army Depot in Kentucky, the report said. The facility would serve as a hub within the US industrial base for the production of key military explosives, including research department explosives (RDX) and high melting explosives (HMX), while also supporting research and development of next-generation materials. The proposed
SOUTH KOREA DISPUTE: If Seoul continues to ignore its request, Taiwan would change South Korea’s designation on its arrival cards, the foreign ministry said If South Korea does not reply appropriately to a request to correct Taiwan’s name on its e-Arrival card system before March 31, the government would take corresponding measures to change how South Korea is labeled on the online Taiwan Arrival Card system, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday. South Korea’s e-Arrival card system lists Taiwan as “China (Taiwan)” in the “point of departure” and “next destination” fields. Taipei has asked Seoul to change the wording. Since March 1, South Koreans who hold government-issued Alien Resident Certificates (ARC) have been identified as from “South Korea” rather than the “Republic of Korea,” the
RSS