As China campaigns to cut off Taiwan, Honduras poised to flip next

Beijing woos Central America and Caribbean with vaccines and infrastructure

Honduran presidential candidate Xiomara Castro speaks at an event in Tegucigalpa. She has pledged to end 80 years of relations between Honduras and Taiwan. © Reuters

KOSUKE SHIMIZU and YU NAKAMURA, Nikkei staff writers

November 3, 2021 02:45 JST

MEXICO CITY/TAIPEI -- With the Beijing Olympics and a twice-a-decade Communist Party congress coming up in 2022, China is accelerating efforts to sever Taiwan's diplomatic ties with nations in Central America and the Caribbean.

"Honduras will immediately open diplomatic and commercial connections with mainland China" -- or so promises Xiomara Castro, the presidential candidate from the leading opposition Liberty and Refoundation Party, or Libre, in the country's Nov. 28 election. Honduras has maintained diplomatic ties with Taipei for over 80 years.