Honduras Hiatus

(中文在下方)

I really don’t understand the furore over Honduras ending 82 years of diplomatic ties with Taiwan, or the other tiny counties that have done the same in the recent past.

It’s only ever been about money and when these poor countries don’t get it they just go begging elsewhere and, of course, China pays up. It’s easy to buy false friends. The rare exception is Lithuania which appears to be genuine in its relationship with Taiwan.   

My wife told me we had 11 eggs in the fridge, I disagreed and said we had 12… did we have a big row about it? No, because it makes little or no difference either way?

So Honduras has switched, so what? It is a small country with no political clout anywhere in the world, a population of less than half that of Taiwan and a nominal GDP of just $31 billion vs Taiwan’s $830 billion. Little wonder they need money and you can’t blame them for looking elsewhere. 

Taiwan should concentrate on building a deeper relationship with a friend that can actually help it, the United States. Everything else is just a distraction.

Tinkerty Tonk... 

我真的不明白宏都拉斯結束與台灣的外交關係，或近年來台灣與其他小國斷絕外交關係的紛擾。

這一直都只是錢的問題，當這些貧窮國家得不到錢時，他們就會到別處乞討，當然，中國會付出代價。假朋友很容易買到，罕見的例外是立陶宛，她與台灣的關係似乎是真誠的。

如果我家那頭常常黏在天花板上氣噗噗的貓告訴我，冰箱裡有 11 個雞蛋，我不同意並說冰箱裡有 12 個…… 我們需要為此吵架嗎？ 不會，因為 11 個或是 12 個，對我們實際上都沒有區別。

所以和宏都拉斯的關係改變了，那又如何？ 那是一個在世界任何地方都沒有政治影響力的小國，人口不到台灣的一半，名目 GDP 僅為 310 億美元，而台灣為 8300 億美元。難怪他們需要錢，而且你不能怪他們去別處找錢。

台灣應該把精力集中在真正能幫助台灣的朋友，例如美國，和他們建立更深厚的關係。其他一切，都只是枝節末微的干擾而已。

掰掰。

(祝蔡英文訪美順利！這句是我孟買春秋喬伊斯本人加的)