China and Honduras established diplomatic relations on Sunday, a setback for Taiwan, which is still losing an ally and denounces
Beijing's "
coercion and intimidation ".
Tegucigalpa had announced a few hours earlier the severing of its ties with Taipei, which is now only recognized by 13 states in the world.
"
China and Honduras have just established diplomatic relations
," tweeted Hua Chunying, a spokeswoman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
She accompanies her short message with a photo of Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang shaking hands with his Honduran counterpart Enrique Reina, currently in Beijing.
China considers the island of Taiwan, with a population of 23 million, to be one of its provinces, which it has yet to manage to reunify with the rest of its territory since the end of the civil war. Chinese.
Completed in 1949, the conflict pitted the Communists (who eventually took power in mainland China) against the Nationalist army (forced to retreat to the island).
In seven decades, the communist army has never been able to conquer the island, which has remained under the control of the Republic of China - which once ruled all of China and now only rules Taiwan.
“Financial incentives”
In the name of the " One China
" principle
, Beijing does not allow foreign countries to maintain diplomatic relations with Taipei.
However, the island has forged international partnerships through other channels.
In a press release from his ministry published on Saturday evening, Enrique Reina indicated that “
on instructions
” from the President of Honduras, Xiomara Castro, he “
communicated to Taiwan the decision to break diplomatic relations
”.
"
The government of the Republic of Honduras recognizes the existence of one China in the world, and that the government of the People's Republic of China is the only legitimate government to represent all of China," according to the same source
.
“
Taiwan is an inalienable part of Chinese territory
,” the ministry continued, adding that it pledged from Saturday to no longer have any official relationship or contact with Taiwan.
In response, Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu on Sunday accused Honduras of "
deluding themselves
" about Chinese promises of economic aid.
“
China has not stopped trying to attract Honduras with financial incentives
,” he lamented at a press conference in Taipei.
"
The severance of diplomatic relations between our country and Honduras is part of a series of coercion and intimidation by China
," President Tsai Ing-wen's office said in a statement.
"
China has been reducing (Taiwan's) place on the international stage for a long time, unilaterally endangering regional peace and stability.
»
The Chinese authorities have sought to diplomatically isolate Taiwan since 2016 and the election on the island of a president from a pro-independence party.
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