The President of Honduras recently announced plans to establish diplomatic relations with China. An analysis by CNN pointed out that China may think that it has succeeded in isolating Taiwan diplomatically. However, in fact, Taiwan's influence on the global stage has only increased.

The picture shows the flag of our embassy in Honduras and the flag of Honduras.

(Reuters file photo)

[Central News Agency] The President of Honduras recently announced plans to establish diplomatic relations with China. An analysis by CNN pointed out that China may think that it has succeeded in isolating Taiwan diplomatically, but in fact, Taiwan's influence on the global stage has only increased.

An analysis written by Eric Cheung, a CNN reporter in Taiwan, pointed out that Honduran President Xiumara.

Xiomara Castro's announcement last week of plans to establish diplomatic relations with China is, to many, another example of China's growing influence on the world stage.

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Before Castro's announcement, Taiwan's allies had been reduced from 56 when the ROC government withdrew from the United Nations in 1971 to the current 14; when President Tsai Ing-wen took office in 2016, there were still 22 allies.

Given that most of Taiwan's remaining allies are small countries in Latin America and the Pacific, cutting off ties with Honduras at this time could be portrayed by China as Taiwan's continued stranglehold on the world stage.

But this analysis suggests that the opposite may be the case.

More and more experts point out that although Taiwan often retreats in formal diplomacy, if you look deeper, Taiwan's influence in various parts of the world is growing day by day by developing closer unofficial relations with Western countries.

Lev Nachman, an assistant professor and political scientist at the School of Innovation and International Studies at National Chengchi University, analyzed: "Allies can indeed provide meaningful support to Taiwan, such as official mutual visits. But we often ask, if one day Taiwan formally establishes diplomatic relations with Taiwan. What will happen if the number of countries goes to zero? The answer is not much.”

Although the United States broke off diplomatic relations with the government of the Republic of China in Taiwan in 1979, the unofficial relationship between Taiwan and the United States has been stable for decades.

Although Taiwan and the United States do not have diplomatic relations, it still does not prevent the then Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, from visiting Taiwan in August last year, nor does it affect the current Speaker of the House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, who plans to visit Central America in early April. Plan to meet President Tsai while transiting through the United States.

In recent months, Taiwan has also made gains in Europe, and achieved various major breakthroughs, but it did not use the banner of "diplomacy".

Bettina Stark-Watzinger, Minister of Education and Research of Germany, Europe's largest economy, visited Taiwan on the 21st of this month. She was the first German ministerial official to visit Taiwan in 26 years. The cooperation between Taiwan and Germany in the field of science and technology was carried out in defiance of the serious protests of the Beijing authorities.

Taiwan's military also disclosed exchanges with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in January this year.

Lieutenant Colonel Wu Bangyan, a Taiwanese flight officer, was sent to Italy to participate in a six-month academic training program at the NATO Defense College.

Analysis pointed out that Taiwan plays a leading role in the global supply of semiconductor chips, which also makes Taiwan an important trading partner of many Western democracies.

TSMC is Asia's most valuable company, accounting for 90 percent of the world's production of ultra-advanced chips, according to industry estimates cited by Reuters.

Experts say such unofficial ties support Taiwan's security and economy are far more important than diplomatic relations with smaller countries.