Minister ‘open’ to Honduras relations

Taiwan is open to all possibilities for relations with Honduras, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said on Tuesday during a meeting with a Honduran congressman in Taipei. Lin welcomed the visit by Jorge Calix, caucus whip of Honduras’ opposition Liberal Party, saying during the meeting that the visit was “a concrete move to show his friendship and support for Taiwan,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Tuesday evening. The two countries ended formal diplomatic relations in 2023. Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs When Taiwan and Honduras were diplomatic allies, they had achieved fruitful results through cooperation in several areas, Lin said. Taiwan continues to cherish its long-standing friendship with the people of Honduras, the statement cited him as saying. The government will maintain a “pragmatic and open approach” to the prospect of relations that could “create all kinds of possibilities,” he said. The statement cited Calix as saying that he sees Taiwan as a model of freedom, democracy and economic development. Calix said he would be exploring opportunities for cooperation based on the existing foundation. The ministry did not disclose when the Honduran politician arrived in Taiwan or how long he is staying. Calix has been serving as a member of the Honduran National Congress since 2014. In early 2022, he briefly served as the disputed president of the Congress. He is the first Honduran politician to publicly visit Taiwan since the Central American country severed formal diplomatic ties with Taipei in favor of Beijing in March 2023, during the tenure of then-Honduran president Xiomara Castro, ending 82 years of formal ties. Honduran President Nasry Asfura, who took office in January, had pledged during his election campaign to restore ties with Taipei. Since then, neither Tegucigalpa nor Taipei have spoken publicly about potentially restoring diplomatic ties. ‘GLOBAL WARNING’: The infiltration is not just a local problem, as Beijing has been deploying the same tactics worldwide against Western democracies, a report said Between 50,000 and 100,000 Chinese spies are operating in Taiwan, far more than the National Security Bureau’s previous estimate of 5,000, German journalist and author Jurgen Kremb said on Monday. Kremb presented his research, titled “The War of Spies: How China’s Intelligence Services Are Infiltrating Taiwan — and What Europe Must Learn from It,” at a joint event held by the Taiwan offices of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation and the European Values Center for Security Policy. The report was published in June in the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau’s Prospect & Exploration Monthly (展望與探索月刊). By spies, he said he was referring to informants, PRICE STABILIZATION: The Ministry of Economic Affairs has urged the legislature to support the Cabinet’s supplementary budget for state-owned energy companies State-owned oil supplier CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) on Saturday announced that it would raise domestic gasoline prices by NT$0.7 (US$0.02) per liter and diesel prices by NT$0.6 per liter this week after international crude oil prices rose above US$100 per barrel last week. Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) yesterday said that it matched CPC’s price adjustments for this week. The decisions end a six-week period during which CPC and Formosa kept fuel prices in Taiwan unchanged. Retail gasoline prices this week would rise to NT$31.2, NT$32.7 and NT$34.7 per liter for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline respectively at CPC More than 100 Taiwanese-Americans, Taiwanese lawmakers and members of civic groups on Saturday marched through New York City to call for Taiwan’s participation in the UN, with Marshall Island Permanent Representative to the UN John Silk joining the event to show support. Participants chanted: “UN for Taiwan” and “Keep Taiwan Free” as they marched through central Manhattan, passing Times Square and Bryant Park before ending near the New York Public Library. The annual march brought together Taiwanese community groups from across the US East Coast. Silk expressed hope that Taiwan would one day be able to participate in UN meetings Two aides at independent Legislator May Chin’s (高金素梅) office were ordered detained incommunicado yesterday in a broadening probe into alleged Chinese espionage by Chin’s former chief of staff, Chang Chun-chieh (張俊傑). The move to hold Lin I-chun (林怡君) and current chief of staff Chen Chih-huang (陳智葟) in custody came four days after Chang, indicted on corruption charges, cut off his electronic monitoring wristband and jumped bail. The High Prosecutors’ Office said that it believes Chang had developed a Chinese spy ring, which might have operated for more than a decade, with funding from China, and that Lin and Chen were suspected of