Central American Parliament Cancels Taiwan's Observer Status

On Monday, the Central American Parliament (PARLACEN) resolved to cancel Taiwan's permanent observer status and accept China instead.

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Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said his country highly appreciates the PARLACEN decision and accepts the invitation made to the National People's Congress of China to be a PARLACEN permanent observer.

"The resolution proves once again that adhering to the 'One China' principle is an unstoppable trend of the times and the aspiration of the people," Wang said.

The Chinese diplomat added that his nation is willing to develop friendly and cooperative relations with PARLACEN on the basis of such a principle, which recognizes Taiwan as an inalienable part of the Chinese territory.

The Central American Parliament is made up of representatives from Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Panama, the Dominican Republic, and Nicaragua.

On Monday, Nicaraguan lawmakers pushed through a motion urging PARLACEN members to recognize Beijing as the "legitimate representative of the Chinese people."

This motion was approved by the majority of the legislators, who thus incorporated the People's Republic of China as an observer State of PARLACEN.

Currently, Belize and Guatemala are Taiwan's only two remaining diplomatic partners in Central America after Honduras severed ties with Taipei on March 26.

The Central American countries that broke relations with Taiwan in favor of China are Costa Rica (2007), Panama (2017), El Salvador (2018), Nicaragua (2021), and Honduras (2023).