TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) – A high-ranking ally of incoming Honduran president Xiomara Castro on Thursday said the Central American country does not need to establish diplomatic ties with China as long as its relations with the United States are good.
Prior to Sunday’s presidential election, which Castro appears to have won by a significant margin, she said that she was open to opening up formal relations with China. That would be a blow to Honduras’ longstanding diplomatic ally Taiwan.
Honduras, with a population of just under 10 million, is one of a shrinking club concentrated in Central America and the Caribbean that maintains relations with U.S.-backed Taiwan, which China views as a renegade province.
Salvador Nasralla, the runner-up the Honduran 2017 presidential election, who is set to be one of Castro’s three vice presidents, told Reuters: “There are no relations with China, relations continue with Taiwan.”
“Our trade ally, our close ally, our historical ally is the United States. We don’t want to fight with the United States, the United States is our main trade ally,” he added.
Castro’s pledge on China relations had prompted diplomatic jostling between Beijing and Washington as each seeks to exert influence on the Central American nation.
When asked about establishing ties with China, Nasralla said: “We don’t need to establish relations with China as long as we have good relations with the United States.”
China’s Foreign Ministry last week accused the United States of “arm-twisting” in Honduras ahead of Sunday’s election.
(Reporting by Gustavo Palencia; Writing by Drazen Jorgic; Editing by Dave Graham)
