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Honduras on Sunday established diplomatic relations with China and ended its recognition of Taiwan, sparking outrage among Taiwanese leaders who said the Central American nation had demanded “billions of dollars” to continue backing the island democracy on the international stage.
The development expands China’s sphere of influence in the Western Hemisphere and shrinks international support for Taiwan. It also comes amid worsening U.S.-China relations and a widening battle for global influence between Washington and Beijing that some analysts have described as Cold War 2.0.
With Taiwan now recognized diplomatically by just 13 nations around the world, regional experts say Honduras’ move represents a key symbolic victory for the communist regime in Beijing, which considers the independently governed Taiwan to be part of China’s sovereign territory.
U.S. officials have grown increasingly concerned during recent years of China’s expanding influence in Latin America, where Beijing has reportedly promised major aid packages to several countries in exchange for their commitments to abandon relations with Taiwan.
Similar concerns about China’s growing influence also extend to other corners of the world, with U.S. officials expressing wariness that Beijing is using its increasing military and financial clout to challenge American leadership from the Middle East to Africa, Europe and Asia.
Recent weeks saw Beijing broker a restoration of diplomatic ties between Iran and Saudi Arabia, and Chinese President Xi Jinping made global headlines by traveling to Moscow in a show of solidarity with Russian President Vladimir Putin against the United States and other Western democracies.
The prospect that Beijing could emerge as a broker of peace in Ukraine has triggered frustration in Washington, while direct U.S.-China tension has soared since last month’s shooting down by the U.S. military of a suspected Chinese spy balloon discovered over the U.S. homeland.
The status of Taiwan has also been an increasingly heated friction point since August, when China responded to a visit by then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi — the highest U.S. official to travel to Taipei in a quarter century — by dramatically expanding the scope of its military drills and missile tests near the island.
The Biden administration has responded with increased U.
