BEIJING, March 26 (Reuters) - China established diplomatic ties with Honduras on Sunday (Mar 26) after the Central American country ended its decades-long relationship with Taiwan, as Taiwan's foreign minister accused Honduras of demanding exorbitant sums before being lured away by Beijing.
The ending of ties with Taiwan had been long expected after the Honduran foreign minister travelled to China last week to open relations and President Xiomara Castro said her government would start ties with Beijing.
China said its foreign minister, Qin Gang, and Honduran Foreign Minister Eduardo Enrique Reina signed the deal on diplomatic recognition in Beijing, ending relations with Taiwan dating back to the 1940s.
In a brief statement late on Saturday, the Honduran foreign ministry said it recognised the People's Republic of China as the only legitimate government that represents all of China and that Taiwan is an "inseparable part of Chinese territory".
China claims democratically ruled Taiwan as its own territory with no right to state-to-state ties, a position Taipei strongly rejects. China demands that countries with which it has ties to recognise its position.
Speaking on Sunday in Taipei shortly after the announcement, Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said Castro, who took office early last year, and her government had "always had illusions" about China and China's "luring" had never stopped.
"The foreign ministry and embassy grasped the relevant information and handled it carefully. However, the Castro government also asked us for billions of dollars in huge economic assistance and compared prices for assistance programmes provided by Taiwan and China," Wu said.
Neither the Chinese nor the Honduran statements made mention of aid.
Wu added that the Honduran foreign minister wrote to Taiwan on Mar 13, the day before Castro's original announcement, demanding a total of US$2.45 billion in aid, including the construction of a hospital and a dam and to write off debt.
"It felt like what they wanted was money, not a hospital," Wu said.
Honduras Foreign Minister Eduardo Enrique Reina told Reuters last week the US$2.5 billion figure was "not a donation", but rather "a negotiated refinancing mechanism".
