Honduras business leader urges restoring ties with Taiwan
Honduras's top industry group says the switch from Taiwan to China has been a bad deal, adding pressure on a government already showing cracks over the 2023 diplomatic break.
- The head of Honduras's national industry association, Fernando Garcia, called for reviving trade ties with Taiwan and said China's promised cooperation turned out to be empty.
- Honduras cut ties with Taiwan in March 2023 and recognized Beijing, but losing the Taiwanese market hit key exports hard, especially white shrimp farming.
- Beijing has funded projects in other Central American countries while Honduras got little beyond a flood of cheap, low-quality Chinese goods.
- Garcia pointed to the US and other countries that deal with both Beijing and Taipei, arguing Honduras should pick partners based on its own interests.
- President Nasry Asfura has voiced support for restoring relations with Taiwan, though nothing concrete has moved yet.
Outlook: Pressure to reopen a Taiwan channel will keep building, but no formal step is expected in the near term.