Taiwan is willing to restore diplomatic relations with Honduras without setting preconditions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday, after the new government in Tegucigalpa signaled interest in resuming formal ties.
Ministry spokesman Hsiao Kuang-wei (蕭光偉) said Taiwan acknowledges an earlier statement by Honduran Vice President Maria Antonieta Mejia Sanchez indicating that the country is exploring a resumption of normal bilateral relations.
The ministry is to deal with Honduras’ proposals with openness and pragmatism, without setting preconditions, he said.
Photo: Fang Wei-li, Taipei Times
The government’s policy stance on Honduras is to pursue mutually beneficial ties that would facilitate Taiwan’s diplomatic strategy and economic growth of friendly countries under the Diplomatic Allies Prosperity Project, Hsiao said.
Honduran President Nasry Asfura, who was sworn into office last month, had said on the campaign trail that his administration would seek to reverse then-Honduran president Xiomara Castro’s switch of diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China.
Honduras is in the process of reviewing various agreements it signed with Beijing as part of a push to develop ties with Taipei, Meija was cited as saying by the Honduran newspaper La Tribuna in a report published on Monday.
Telegucialpa must fully examine the repercussions of resuming relations with Taiwan before making a decision, as the country has inked 16 economic pacts with China, she said.
The Nasry administration is to decide on a course of action that best serves Honduras’ national interests, Meija said.
In related news, the Guardian in a report on Tuesday said that Beijing is donating luxury vehicles to Pacific leaders in a campaign to broaden China’s influence in the region.
The Chinese government in a state ceremony last month gifted a Hongqi-brand car to Fijian President Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu, the report said.
Yun Sun, director of the US-based think tank Stimson Center’s China Program, said the gesture was the latest example in what she called China’s “prestige diplomacy.”
“This is more symbolic than substantive,” Yun was quoted as saying. “It is part of China’s aid program that aims to build good personal relationships with leaders.”
Foreign states have long donated vehicles to develop rapport with nations in the region, but strategic competition has turned the gifts into “visible markers of rival efforts to court Pacific governments and solidify partnerships,” she was quoted as saying.
Australia, the US, New Zealand and Japan are among the other countries that have donated vehicles to court nations in the Pacific, a practice China has engaged in as early as 2013, the paper said.
China has been providing developmental aid and infrastructure programs in addition to high-profile gifts to countries in the strategically important region, aiming to further its influence and undercut Taiwan’s diplomatic efforts, it said.
Tuvalu, the Marshall Islands and Palau are the only three Pacific island nations that recognize Taiwan, down from six countries seven years ago, the paper said.
Following the receipt of the car, Lalabalavu in a speech reaffirmed Fiji’s commitment to its “one China” policy.
Blake Johnson, regional expert and senior analyst at the Development Intelligence Lab, was cited by the Guardian as saying that the link between gifts and foreign messaging is frequently explicit.
“That reiteration of support for the ‘one China’ policy is a common phrase that comes along with most kinds of ceremonies where [Pacific leaders] receive gifts or thank China for the aid and support,” he said.
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