BEIJING — Honduras has reduce diplomatic ties with Taiwan, the Latin American nation introduced Saturday, saying it acknowledges “just one China on the planet.”

The announcement by Honduras’s Overseas Ministry posted on Twitter, and likewise reported by China’s CCTV, comes amid rising tensions between Beijing and the US, together with over China’s rising assertiveness towards self-ruled Taiwan. The transfer leaves Taiwan acknowledged by solely 13 sovereign states.

“The federal government of the Republic of Honduras acknowledges the existence of just one China on the planet and that the federal government of the Folks’s Republic of China is the one legit authorities that represents all of China,” the ministry assertion stated.

It added that “Taiwan is an inalienable a part of Chinese language territory, and as of at present, the Honduran authorities has knowledgeable Taiwan of the severance of diplomatic relations, pledging to not have any official relationship or contact with Taiwan.”

Taiwan Overseas Minister Joseph Wu stated Sunday the governments of Honduras and China have been discussing establishing ties and that Taiwan had ended its relations with Honduras to “safeguard its sovereignty and dignity.”

Wu stated that Honduras President Xiomara Castro and her workforce all the time had a “fantasy” about China and had raised the difficulty of switching ties earlier than the presidential election in Honduras in 2021.

“With Taiwan’s efforts on the matter, the relations between Taiwan and Honduras have been as soon as secure at first of Castro’s time period, however China had not stopped luring Honduras,” Wu stated at a information convention.

Honduras is the ninth diplomatic ally that Taipei has misplaced to Beijing since pro-independence President Tsai Ing-wen first took workplace in Could 2016.

China and Taiwan have been locked in a battle for diplomatic recognition for the reason that sides cut up amid civil conflict in 1949, with Beijing spending billions to win recognition for its “one China” coverage.

China claims Taiwan is a part of its territory, to be introduced below its management by pressure if mandatory, and refuses most contacts with international locations that keep formal ties with the island democracy. It threatens retaliation in opposition to international locations merely for rising contacts.

Taiwan nonetheless has ties with Belize, Paraguay and Guatemala in Latin America, and Vatican Metropolis. Most of its remaining companions are island nations within the Caribbean and South Pacific, together with Eswatini in southern Africa.

Regardless of China’s marketing campaign of isolation, Taiwan retains sturdy casual ties with greater than 100 different international locations, most significantly the US. The U.S. doesn’t have diplomatic relations with Taiwan however has maintained that Taipei is a vital associate within the Indo-Pacific.