The Nightmare of Great Power Rivalry Over Taiwan
CounterPunchNov 30, 2022
The Facts
Honduras Pres. Xiomara Castro on Tuesday announced on Twitter her government will seek to establish diplomatic relations with China, implying it will be severing relations with Taiwan.
Castro, a democratic socialist who won the presidency in 2021 after campaigning on a radical agenda to counter years of corruption and scandal, said during her campaign that the country would establish diplomatic ties with China. But in January 2022, Castro's transition team said it would maintain relations with Taiwan; her latest tweet suggests that has changed.
The Spin
Anti-China narrative
Honduras is being used by China in its campaign to isolate Taiwan. The plan uses trade and investment — including its multi-billion-dollar Belt and Road initiative to build ports, railways, power plants, and other infrastructure for developing nations — as incentives for switching diplomatic ties. Before Honduras, where China is constructing a massive dam, China bribed Costa Rica, Panama, El Salvador, and Nicaragua.
Pro-China narrative
Taiwan is an inalienable part of China, and the PRC government is the country’s representative. Any attempt to unilaterally add preconditions and provisos to the one-China principle is illegal. So Honduras, and other Central American countries that haven’t done so already, should do the right thing and cut ties with Taiwan.