Name? Lai Ching-te
Westphalian identity? Taiwanese
Age? 62
Why is he in the news? Taiwanese Vice President Lai is heading to Honduras to attend the inauguration of the country’s new president, Xiomara Castro. In an effort to incentivize Castro into remaining one of Taiwan’s few allies, Lai heads to Honduras with supplies to help Honduras fight the coronavirus pandemic and prove that Taipei is “a trustworthy friend.”
Why do we care? After Nicaragua re-established ties with Beijing last month, transferring Taipei’s domestic assets to Beijing, Honduras is one of only 14 countries that has maintained formal diplomatic ties with Lai and Tsai in Taipei. In fact, Taiwan cares so much about staying friends with Honduras that it cut to zero tariffs on over 20 goods imported from the Latin American country; revamping their existing free-trade agreement.
Why should you care? Because Lai and Castro may not be household names, but their physically smaller nations are still relevant for global geopolitics. In other words, if Beijing and Washington are increasingly invested in Lai’s travels and FTAs, you should care too, about 5/10 to be precise.
Who else cares? Speaking of Washington, Vice President Harris cares about Lai’s trip to Honduras for a number of reasons, particularly the fact that she is heading to Castro’s inauguration herself and is likely to run into her Taiwanese counterpart. Additionally, VP Harris is eager to know whether Lai is successful in maintaining Honduras’ friendship with Taiwan because if he is not, Beijing’s influence in the United States’ backyard is set to increase.
Any further comments? “Coincidentally,” VP Lai’s trip to Honduras has lined up with China’s largest air force incursion (aka 34 fighter jets and four electronic warfare aircraft) over Taiwan last week. As China continuously conducts “grey zone” warfare, VP Harris and others in Washington hope to ramp up the delivery of new F-16 fighter jets to Taiwan from 2026 to as soon as possible.
