Honduras President assures support to Taiwan amid threats from China

Amid the deteriorating situation between China and Taiwan, Hondurans assured the latter to lend support in all circumstances. Notably, the assurance from Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández came after he held a meeting with the Taiwan President on Saturday. During the meeting, he assured his Taiwanese counterpart Tsai Ing-wen Honduras would always stand by Taiwan in its difficult times, reported Taiwan News. Notably, Honduras--a Central American country-- is among only 15 countries that recognise Taiwan over Beijing.

"It's in difficult times that you get to know your friends better," Hernandez said. "In this moment of tensions in the region, Honduras is here, always close to Taiwan."

Honduran President is paying a three-day visit to Taiwan

It is worth mentioning President Juan landed in Taipei on Saturday as a part of a three-day visit to Taiwan to mark 80 years of official diplomatic relations. During the meeting, the media report said that the President noted that his country is the first central American country to visit Taipei following the COVID pandemic. Notably, China claims full sovereignty over Taiwan, a democracy of almost 24 million people located off the southeastern coast of mainland China, despite the fact that the two sides have been governed separately for more than seven decades. On the other hand, Taiwan, officially the Republic of China, has countered the aggressions and said it would not let the Communist government interfere in their territory.

Chinese govt plans to force Taiwan to negotiate on Beijing terms by 2027

Meanwhile, an earlier US report, claimed Beijing would force the democratic Island to negotiate on their terms by 2027, Taiwan News reported. The US Department of Defence released a report titled "Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China" that warned the Taiwanese government to take "extra care" of its territories. The report points out that a major new milestone for the People's Liberation Army (PLA) is 2027 when China plans to achieve the capability to force Taiwan to accept a negotiated surrender and prevent any military interference from the US forces.                                                         

The document also says that once Beijing achieves its modernisation drive, it will render the communist regime with more "trustworthy military" options in a Taiwan contingency. It also said that the PLA's goals for 2027 include gaining the ability to blunt US forces in the Indo-Pacific region and "enforce Taipei's leadership to the negotiating table on Beijing's terms.

(With inputs from ANI)

(Image: ANI/AP)