Editor's Note: In less than three months, China-Honduras relationships have quickly deepened from establishing diplomatic relations to the first state visit to China by the Honduran president. What does this relationship mean for the two countries and for China's relationships with Latin American countries in general? This episode of Reality Check provides an analysis.

Hey guys, welcome to Reality Check. I'm Huang Jiyuan.

We are welcoming a new guest to China – Honduran President Xiomara Castro. In every sense, this is "new." It's not just her first state visit to China, but the first by a president of Honduras. Honduras is a country that China is quickly becoming more familiar with. They established diplomatic relations less than three months ago after Honduras cut ties to authorities in the Taiwan region. China inaugurated its embassy in Honduras in early June, and Honduras is working to do the same. 

And according to the Honduran Foreign Minister, the two countries will begin trade talks "soon." In a previous interview, Foreign Minister of Honduras Eduardo Enrique Reina said that "this is the starting of a relation that has been very positive for Honduras, because I think that the Honduran people understand the important role of China in the international field." "I think Latin America has changed over these years. In particular, the government of President Castro is seeking to improve that the Honduras is respected in their sovereignty, their internal decision, their auto-determination of the Honduran people. And I think that this will be the pathway to development and these principles are respected by China," he said.

Latin America has changed. Over the past decade, 10 countries have ditched Taiwan authorities and have chosen to establish or resume diplomatic relations with China. Besides Honduras, four are from Latin America, including Nicaragua, El Salvador, Dominican Republic and Panama. 

One country has not been happy about this: the United States. Since very early on, it has considered itself the dominant power in the Western Hemisphere and has opposed any country it deems reaching into its sphere of influence. It considers Latin America as its backyard. But today, while the United States is using Taiwan to suppress China's development, countries in the region are not following along. They are either seeing China as its top trading partner or cutting ties with Taiwan authorities.

The backyard is "on fire," so to speak. And the U.S. seems unable to put it out. Just as China and Honduras were preparing to establish diplomatic relations, the American Institute in Taiwan accused China of making unfulfilled promises in exchange for recognition. In 2018, former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned Panama of doing business with China because of China's "predatory economic activity."

Words did nothing. This is how former U.S. Ambassador to Panama John Feeley described his experience: "I felt frustrated and powerless." "I rang every bell in Washington that I could to try to drum up U.S. private sector interest. I asked for a commercial delegation to come down, and I got nothing," he said.

Al Jazeera made an interesting comparison. The U.S. spent nearly three trillion dollars on wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Nearly $55 billion were spent to support Ukraine in mere months. But in Latin America, it allocated less than $2.2 billion throughout the entirety of 2022, even though nearly one-fifth of Americans are of Latin American and Caribbean descent. It's not surprising that the backyard bolted.

China has made it crystal clear: Taiwan is part of China; China must and will be reunified. So, the choice for everyone is simple: Do you prefer recognizing this fact, establish relations with China and give your people a chance at development? Or do you prefer sticking with a false illusion and deny your people the benefit they could've otherwise enjoyed? The choice is simple.

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