Honduran President Cathochu said on Twitter on Tuesday that she had instructed Foreign Minister Reina to handle formal relations with China.

(Reuters, synthesized by this newspaper)

[Reporter Lu Yixuan/Taipei Report] Honduras, a Central American ally, plans to establish diplomatic relations with China. Its Foreign Minister Reina has recently made frequent claims to the outside world that the content does not match the facts, belittling Taiwan for failing to provide assistance.

People familiar with the matter said bluntly today that Hongguo has neglected righteousness for profit, and now it is time to let the outside world know the whole story.

Since the Kawchu government took office last year, it has never stopped communicating with China. As soon as it took office, it proposed a construction plan of 6 billion U.S. dollars to China. At the same time, it proposed a number of financial aid requests for us in the name of hospitals and dams, with a total of nearly 2.5 billion U.S. dollars. , but declined to negotiate, "Obviously just wandering on both sides, very insincere."

The President of Honduras, Cafacchu, announced on Twitter last Tuesday that he would seek to establish diplomatic relations with China.

People familiar with the matter said today that looking back at the interaction between the two sides over the past year, we have always wanted to negotiate seriously, but Hong's attitude has been ups and downs, and it is actually wandering on both sides of Taiwan and China.

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During the 2021 general election, Kawchu declared that he would establish diplomatic relations with China after being elected. After active communication between Taiwan and the United States, Kawchu changed his mind and said that establishing diplomatic relations with China was not a top priority. stabilize.

However, people familiar with the matter pointed out that Hongguo contacted China a few days after taking office, and proposed large-scale infrastructure, technological equipment, etc., with an amount as high as US$6 billion. China did not immediately respond.

The two sides have continued to interact through third places, international conferences and other occasions. China has also continuously proposed financial aid plans to Hongfang, hoping to win over.

At the same time, our country proposed to negotiate a bilateral cooperation structure after Kawachu took office, but Hongguo has been delaying the negotiation with us, and is unwilling to sign a memorandum of cooperation. , Build a dam with 300 million US dollars, and buy 2 billion US dollars of national debt from Hongguo.

People familiar with the matter said that these demands are far beyond our capabilities, and it is not the way we hope to cooperate with our friends. We hope to be transparent, responsible, and benefit the local people.

However, we still showed our sincerity. High-level officials went to Hongguo to propose that we could moderately increase the amount of bilateral cooperation, and promised to build a hospital using Guatemala as an example, and find countries with similar ideas to help build dams. Honduras has not paid back Our US$489 million loan can also be adjusted by deferring repayment and other methods.

However, when our side proposed these proposals, the Honduran foreign minister only agreed, but did not follow up. "It seems that there is no serious discussion, as if they are traveling on both sides of the strait and selling to China."

The insider was even more shocked. On March 13, the day before Kawchu’s tweet, we just received a letter from Hong Foreign Minister Reina who proposed again (the letter was written on March 7); The amount of the hospital project mentioned in the letter was directly increased to 90 million U.S. dollars, and the dam project was raised to 350 million U.S. dollars. We also asked us to undertake Hongguo's 2 billion U.S. dollars in national debt.

The person said that the amount is very clear, like an ultimatum, without real negotiation, and it seems that it may be part of the process of establishing diplomatic relations with China, or to sell to China.

While our side was still studying the letter from Foreign Minister Hong, Kawchu announced on Twitter that he was seeking relations with China.

We sincerely hope to benefit the people, but Foreign Minister Hong also made statements in the media that are inconsistent with the facts. For example, he said that Taiwan is unwilling to build a hospital. In fact, the Chimaltenango Hospital that my country assisted Gua has been completed. Honduras has stated that it wants to build such a hospital, but they value the money rather than the actual construction".

The person also lamented that during the coup in Honduras in 2009, President Kacchuchu’s husband-in-law Zeraya was the president at the time and was overthrown. At that time, our embassy protected their family. The first family also thanked Taiwan for the most difficult time. help.

However, after Kawchu took office, he left behind the relationship that Taiwan had provided him with assistance.

Has the diplomatic relationship with Hongguo come to an end?

The person said that the "warning signal is quite clear" at present, and it can be said that "the matter has reached a final stage", but until the last moment of no hope, "we will continue to work hard."