The Honduran government is seeking to re-engage with the Taiwanese market, Honduran Secretary of Foreign Affairs Enrique Reina said on Monday, as one of the Central American nation’s major exports has plummeted since it cut ties with Taiwan.
Honduras severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan in March 2023 in favor of Beijing.
Honduras hoped to benefit from a free-trade agreement with China, but found that Beijing instead dumped goods into Honduras, resulting in a serious bilateral trade imbalance, reports have said.
Photo: Reuters
In an exclusive interview with the Honduran media Radio America, Reina said that due to the delay in opening the Chinese market, Honduras is hoping to re-enter the Taiwanese market to save its white shrimp industry.
After losing the Taiwanese market, the Honduran white shrimp industry, a major export for the Central American nation, is on the verge of collapse, the report said.
Honduras is also hoping to cooperate with South Korea to obtain the appropriate import health permits, Reina said.
Before March 2023, Honduras and Taiwan had more than 80 years of diplomatic relations.
Through military, educational and economic cooperation, Taiwan not only supported Honduran agriculture and offered technological assistance, but was also the primary market for Honduran white shrimp, the report said.
In 2022, nearly 40 percent of Honduran white shrimp exports went to Taiwan, it said.
According to data from National Association of Honduran Aquaculturists (ANDAH), just two years after Honduras cut ties with Taiwan, its white shrimp exports have plummeted 67 percent, leaving more than 14,000 workers unemployed.
According to the report, China promised to purchase large amounts of Honduran white shrimp when the two countries established diplomatic relations, but two years later, that promise is yet to be fulfilled.
When Chinese businesses visited Honduras in June last year to inspect shrimp farms, they announced they would purchase 250 containers of white shrimp, the report said.
However, they only purchased one container in the end, causing ANDAH to call China “rude and disgusting,” it said.
According to data from the Central Bank of Honduras, Honduran exports to China last year amounted to US$35.9 million, while Chinese exports to Honduras increased to US$2.55 billion, resulting in a trade deficit of more than US$2.5 billion, Honduran newspaper La Prensa reported.
Additional reporting by CNA
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Yilan County at 8:39pm tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter was 38.7km east-northeast of Yilan County Hall at a focal depth of 98.3km, the CWA’s Seismological Center said. The quake’s maximum intensity, which gauges the actual physical effect of a seismic event, was a level 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale, the center said. That intensity level was recorded in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳), Hsinchu County’s Guansi Township (關西), Nantou County’s Hehuanshan (合歡山) and Hualien County’s Yanliao (鹽寮). An intensity of 3 was
Instead of focusing solely on the threat of a full-scale military invasion, the US and its allies must prepare for a potential Chinese “quarantine” of Taiwan enforced through customs inspections, Stanford University Hoover fellow Eyck Freymann said in a Foreign Affairs article published on Wednesday. China could use various “gray zone” tactics in “reconfiguring the regional and ultimately the global economic order without a war,” said Freymann, who is also a nonresident research fellow at the US Naval War College. China might seize control of Taiwan’s links to the outside world by requiring all flights and ships entering or leaving Taiwan
The next minimum wage hike is expected to exceed NT$30,000, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday during an award ceremony honoring “model workers,” including migrant workers, at the Presidential Office ahead of Workers’ Day today. Lai said he wished to thank the awardees on behalf of the nation and extend his most sincere respect for their hard work, on which Taiwan’s prosperity has been built. Lai specifically thanked 10 migrant workers selected for the award, saying that although they left their home countries to further their own goals, their efforts have benefited Taiwan as well. The nation’s industrial sector and small businesses lay
Taiwan's first indigenous defense submarine, the SS-711 Hai Kun (海鯤, or Narwhal), departed for its 13th sea trial at 7am today, marking its seventh submerged test, with delivery to the navy scheduled for July. The outing also marked its first sea deployment since President William Lai (賴清德) boarded the submarine for an inspection on March 19, drawing a crowd of military enthusiasts who gathered to show support. The submarine this morning departed port accompanied by CSBC Corp’s Endeavor Manta (奮進魔鬼魚號) uncrewed surface vessel and a navy M109 assault boat. Amid public interest in key milestones such as torpedo-launching operations and overnight submerged trials,
RSS