Interview: U.S. "Taiwan card" strategy doomed to failure, says Argentine expert

BUENOS AIRES, April 1 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. "Taiwan card" strategy is doomed to failure as it contravenes the historical trend and only seeks to maintain Washington's global hegemony, Argentine academic Sebastian Schulz has said.

"Washington has less capacity to force the countries of our region to align themselves with Taiwan," the researcher at the Center for Chinese Studies of the National University of La Plata told Xinhua in a recent interview.

"Relations with Taiwan were sustained by U.S. pressure and that pressure is diminishing as a result of Washington's own crisis of hegemony, but also due to the increase in the relative power of emerging and developing countries," he said.

Talking about the recent decision by Honduras to sever so-called "diplomatic relations" with Taiwan, the researcher said "the Latin American and Caribbean region has greater autonomy and sovereignty over its international policies. That is why Honduras' decision is clearly in tune with the times."

Taiwan is an inalienable part of China, and the countries of the Global South see in China a responsible major country, he added.

Schulz stressed that the United States applies a double standard in recognizing the one-China policy, and at the same time constantly encourages separatist positions in Taiwan, providing arms to Taiwan.

"Clearly, Taiwan's resident population is the least of U.S. concerns. What Washington seeks with its maneuvers is to maintain its supremacy in the international order and sustain its hegemony by creating tension and destabilization," the expert said.

The expert said that Honduras' decision to recognize the one-China principle "is undoubtedly a transcendental decision in 2023."

"It also expresses a historical trend and a continuity of the (same) decision made by other neighboring countries in the region," he said, referring to Panama, Nicaragua and Costa Rica, among others.

Schulz said Tegucigalpa's decision will surely bring benefits, not only for Honduras, but also for the international system, since a large part of the Global South will generate more stability at the world level.

"There is a process that seeks a more multilateral, multipolar international order, where principles such as non-interference in the internal affairs of states, sovereignty and territorial integrity are respected," he said.