Whichever Honduran right-wing candidate wins, Taiwan open to restoring ties

Taipei, Dec. 2 (CNA) Taiwan is open to restoring diplomatic ties with Honduras if either of the two candidates leading the country's presidential race win and follow through on promises to formally re-establish bilateral relations, its foreign ministry said Tuesday.

As of Monday afternoon (Honduran time), two right-wing candidates, Nasry Asfura and Salvador Nasralla, were in a virtual tie with about 57 percent of the vote counted.

The two candidates have previously said they would seek to ditch Beijing in favor of restoring ties with Taipei if elected.

Asked if Taiwan would consider restoring ties with Honduras, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) spokesman Hsiao Kuangwei (蕭光偉) said Tuesday that MOFA maintained "an open attitude" and would "set no preconditions" to engaging in friendly exchanges with Honduras.

"We take every opportunity for exchanges seriously as long as doing so can expand Taiwan's international status and could help Taiwan better contribute to the international community," Hsiao said during a regular MOFA briefing.

General elections were held in Honduras on Nov. 30 with voters electing a new president, a new National Congress, and representatives to the Central American Parliament.

As of Monday afternoon (Honduran time), Asfura and Nasralla both had garnered around 40 percent of the nearly 1.9 million votes counted, with Asfura leading by 515 votes.

Their pledges to restore ties with Taiwan responded to a move by incumbent President Xiomara Castro of the ruling LIBRE Party to switch diplomatic recognition to the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 2023.

Her party's candidate, Rixi Moncada, was behind in third with around 19 percent of the total vote counted in the latest election.

Hsiao said Castro's recognition of the PRC came after the PRC promised large-scale investment to Honduras, but the false promises were never realized.

Since then, the Central American country has seen a sharp decline in its whiteleg shrimp farming industry, which led to a serious unemployment problem, Hsiao said.

The case of Honduras shows once again that allies should think twice about establishing ties with China given Beijing's repeated broken promises, he said.