TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense (MND) on Wednesday (March 15) said it can not rule out the possibility that China has timed Honduras' diplomacy switch from Taipei to Beijing to interfere with President Tsai Ing-wen's (蔡英文) planned trip to Latin America in April, which was to include a stopover in California to meet U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
Honduras President Xiomara Castro on Tuesday (March 14) announced in a Tweet that she had instructed Foreign Minister Eduardo Reina to begin the process of establishing diplomatic relations with China. Taiwanese legislators expressed concerns that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) deliberately timed the diplomatic defection to interfere with Tsai's trip to the U.S.
Castro claimed that this move was "a sign of my determination to comply with the Government Plan and expand the borders freely in concert with the nations of the world." On Wednesday morning, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a press release saying it had received information on the matter and had expressed "serious concerns" to the Honduran government and warned it to "not fall into China's trap."
That same morning, the Foreign and National Defense Committee, Taiwan's Defense Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱国正), and Lieutenant General of the National Security Bureau (NSB) Chen Chin-kuang (陳進廣) fielded questions from legislators. Kuomintang Legislator Chen I-shin (陳以信) asked whether there was any ongoing military cooperation between Taiwan and Honduras, given that it has only been a year since Taiwan Vice President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) attended Castro's inauguration.
Chiu responded that there are not any current military cooperation projects involving the two countries. However, he said there are Honduran military cadets in Taiwan, and Taiwan also has a military attachment stationed in Honduras.
As Tsai prepares to make a stopover in the U.S. on her way to Central and South America, Chen asked whether the MND and NSB believed that the CCP is attempting to sabotage her trip. Chiu responded by saying that the MND has not studied and assessed the CCP's measures in depth, but it "does not rule out the possibility, and the enemy should not be underestimated."
Chen Chin-kuang said the CCP has never stopped wooing countries that have diplomatic relations with Taiwan and also could not rule out that the timing was intentional. He said the NSB has obtained and provided relevant information to the competent authorities for processing, and Taiwan has carried out work to secure its allies.
