Honduras has announced that it is cutting diplomatic ties with Taiwan in favor of siding with China’s ruling Communist Party, saying it recognizes “only one China in the world”. The Honduran Foreign Ministry statement, reported by China’s state-controlled media CCTV, comes amid increasing tension between Beijing and the U.S.-led democratic international order, including China’s aggression towards self-ruled Taiwan. This latest move leaves Taiwan recognized by only 13 sovereign states. Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said that the Honduran government had always had a “fantasy” about China, and had raised the issue of switching ties before President Juan Orlando Hernandez was voted out of office in 2021. Honduras is the ninth diplomatic ally that Taiwan has lost to Beijing since 2016.