HONDURAN President Xiomara Castro announced on Tuesday that her government will seek to establish diplomatic relations with China.

Ms Castro said on her Twitter account that she had instructed her 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.”

Ms Castro said during her presidential campaign in 2021 that she wanted to develop ties with China if she was elected, but once in power her government appeared to backtrack. 

In January 2022, the foreign affairs minister said that Honduras would continue strengthening ties with Taiwan and that establishing a diplomatic relationship with China was not a priority for the president.

In Taipei, a spokesperson said it had “expressed serious concerns to the Honduran government.”

Beijing has so far not commented but has always maintained that Taiwan is part of its territory.

The loss of Honduras would leave Taiwan holding formal diplomatic ties with just 13 states, including only Eswanti in Africa, Belize and Paraguay in Latin America with most of its remaining allies being small island nations in the Caribbean and South Pacific.

Others, such as the United States have what are described as “robust unofficial” relationships with Taiwan.