Honduras to seek official relations with China: President Castro

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(FILES) In this file photo taken on November 24, 2022, Honduras' President Xiomara Castro gestures during the launching of the "Integral Plan for the Treatment of Extortion and Related Crimes", which aims to tackle the local 'maras' (gangs), at the Presidential House in Tegucigalpa. - Honduras will establish diplomatic relations with China, President Xiomara Castro said on March 14, 2023. Without specifying if this means Honduras will sever ties with Taiwan, Castro wrote on Twitter that she has instructed Foreign Minister Eduardo Reina "to undertake the opening of official relations with the People's Republic of China." (Photo by Orlando SIERRA / AFP)

Honduras President Xiomara Castro announced Tuesday that her government will seek to establish diplomatic relations with China, which would imply severing relations with Taiwan. The switch would leave Taiwan recognized by only 13 countries as China spends billions to win recognition for its “One China” policy.

Castro said on her Twitter account that she instructed Honduran Foreign Affairs Minister Eduardo Reina to start negotiations with China and that her intention is “expand frontiers freely in concert with the nations of the world.”

Castro said during her presidential campaign in 2021 that she would look for ties with China if elected, but once in power, her government backtracked on those comments. In January 2022, the foreign affairs minister told The Associated Press that Honduras would continue strengthening ties with Taiwan and that establishing a diplomatic relationship with China was not a priority for Castro.