Statement comes after Honduras president pays an official trip to self-ruled island nation.
ISTANBUL (AA) – China on Monday said the governing authorities on self-ruled Taiwan were “creating the illusion of international support.”
“The DPP (ruling party) authorities are used to creating the illusion of ‘international support’ which is nothing but self-deception that can’t change the fact that Taiwan is part of China, nor can it stop China’s inevitable reunification,” Lijian Zhao, spokesman of China’s Foreign Ministry, told a news conference in Beijing, according to Chinese daily Global Times.
He was responding to the visit by Juan Orlando H., president of Honduras, to the island nation which Beijing claims its “breakaway province”. Taipei, however, has been insisting on its independence since 1949 with independent diplomatic ties with at least 15 nations.
Orlando is on an official trip to Taiwan to mark 80 years of official diplomatic relations between the two sides.
In a meeting with his Taiwanese counterpart Tsai Ing-wen, Orlando said: “Honduras will stand by Taiwan because it is when you are in need that you find out who your real friends are.”
The trip comes ahead of general elections in the Central American country on Nov. 28 where the fate of Orlando hangs in balance as his opponent has vowed to establish relations with Beijing.
“As friends and allies for 80 years, Taiwan and Honduras are strengthening our wide-ranging cooperation for the benefit of our nations and peoples,” Tsai said in a tweet welcoming her Honduran counterpart.
The trip by Orlando followed a visit by 12 US lawmakers who landed in Taipei aboard an American Navy aircraft triggering angry reaction from China.
Interactions between Taipei and Washington and its allies have been on the rise recently, triggering increased air activity by Chinese jets over the Taiwan Strait.
Meanwhile, Lithuania has urged the US, Japan and other “democratic nations to step up coordination in their dealings with China.”
The European nation’s Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said Beijing was allegedly exerting “economic pressure” on his country in “apparent retaliation for deepening ties with Taiwan.”
Lithuania recently said it will further deepen ties with Taipei.