REUTERS Fredy Rodriguez
TEGUCIGALPA, Dec 2 Reuters - A high-ranking ally of incoming Honduran president Xiomara Castro said on Thursday that the Central American country does not need to establish diplomatic ties with China as long as its relations with the United States are good.
Before Sunday's presidential election, which Castro appeared to have won by a significant margin, she said she was open to opening formal relations with China. That would be a blow to Honduras' longstanding diplomatically ally, Taiwan.
Honduras, with a population of just under 10 million, is one of a shrinking club concentrated in Central America and the Caribbean that maintains relations with U.S. backed Taiwan, which China views as a renegade province.
Salvador Nasralla, the runner up in the Honduran 2017 presidential election, who is one of three vice presidents, told Reuters: There are no relations with China, relations continue with Taiwan. Our close ally, our historical ally, is the United States. He stated that the United States is our main trade ally and we don't want to fight with the United States.
The pledge on China relations had caused diplomatic disputes between Beijing and Washington as each tried to exert influence on the Central American nation.
Nasralla said when asked about establishing ties with China, "we don't need to establish relations with China as long as we have good relations with the United States." China's Foreign Ministry accused the United States of arm-twisting in Honduras ahead of Sunday's election.