TAIWAN will send its deputy leader to the inauguration of Honduran president-elect Xiomara Castro, it said today, as the democratic island faces the potential loss of yet another diplomatic ally in Latin America.

Castro said while campaigning that she would “immediately open diplomatic and commercial relations with mainland China” if she won.

Last month, neighbouring Nicaragua switched its allegiance to Beijing, leaving Honduras as one of just 14 countries that still diplomatically recognise Taiwan rather than China.

China claims self-ruled Taiwan as its territory, to be retaken one day by force if necessary, and has stepped up efforts to diplomatically isolate it.

Taiwanese Vice-President William Lai will attend the January 27 inauguration on behalf of President Tsai Ing-wen, her office said in a statement.

Tsai had said she hoped official relations with Honduras would “continue to deepen” when congratulating Castro on her election victory in the November poll.

Latin America has been a key diplomatic battleground for China and Taiwan since the two split in 1949 after a civil war.

Beijing has spent decades successfully encouraging Taiwan’s diplomatic allies to switch sides, a campaign it ramped up after Tsai’s 2016 election.

Since then, China has poached eight of the island’s allies, including four in Latin America – Panama, El Salvador, the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua.

Taipei recently accused Beijing of trying to lure away its allies by offering Covid-19 vaccines.

Before November’s election, Taiwan warned Honduras against “flashy and false” promises by China, after Castro, of the main opposition Liberty and Refoundation Party, said she planned to switch sides.

The leftist politician, wife of ousted former president Manuel Zelaya, won by a comfortable margin over her right-wing opponent, Nasry Asfura.

Taiwanese media said Lai was planning to transit in the United States en route to Honduras, a move likely to irritate China, which has previously protested US stopovers by Tsai. – AFP, January 19, 2022.