Juan Orlando Hernandez

Will Honduras Break Ties with Taiwan?

Brian Hioe
Honduran president Xiomara Castro surprised last week with a tweet announcing that she had instructed her country’s foreign ministry to begin the process of switching recognition to China. This would mean that Taiwan loses one of its diplomatic allies shortly before a planned trip to visit Central American allies by President Tsai Ing-wen, which would involve a stopover in the US. It is expected that Tsai will speak at the Hudson Institute and meet with US Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy as part of this trip...
EnglishMarch 2023Politics6 min read

Paraguay Presidential Visit Repeats a Pattern Previously Seen with Honduras

Brian Hioe
A recent visit to Taiwan last week by Paraguayan president Mario Abdo Benitez saw Abdo emphasize that breaking ties between Taiwan and Paraguay would be a “historic mistake”. Namely, Paraguay is one of Taiwan’s 14 remaining diplomatic allies, and it's only South American ally. However, the Abdo visit takes place ahead of Paraguayan presidential elections in April, leading to questions about whether Abdo’s successor will switch recognition to China...
EnglishFebruary 2023Politics6 min read

Talk Of ‘Africa Plan’ Not Likely To Prove Any More Successful Than New Southbound Policy

Brian Hioe
Following a five-day state visit to Swaziland by Tsai Ing-Wen last week, Tsai has called for creation of an “Africa plan” to develop stronger economic and political ties between Taiwan and Africa. One suspects that, much like the Tsai administration’s “New Southbound Policy”, this would also be with the aim of weaning Taiwan off of economic dependency on China. But one generally suspects that this would encounter many of the same challenges that the New Southbound Policy has. Furthermore, one must keep in mind that, like many of Taiwan's diplomatic allies, Swaziland is a country whose government has a questionable human rights record...
April 2018EnglishPolitics5 min read

Tsai Recognizes Authoritarian Regime Reminiscent Of The Past KMT In Honduras

Brian Hioe
The irony, not to mention hypocrisy, of Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-Wen acknowledging Juan Orlando Hernandez as president of Honduras is deep. Namely, Honduras is presently in the midst of a voter fraud scandal, with Hernandez accused of having won the election through fraud, much as how the past KMT once controlled Taiwan through stolen elections. This would be Hernandez’s second term as president and under Hernandez's rule, the Honduran police is accused of killing political dissidents, and allowing organize crime to freely carry out street killings, leading Honduras to have one of the world's highest murder rates...
December 2017EnglishInternationalRegional Tensions9 min read