Taiwan said Honduras had asked for “billions of dollars” to maintain ties, Tegucigalpa officially announced a diplomatic shift to Xi Jinpingis China on Sunday.

What happened: Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said President Xiomara Castro — who took office early last year — and her government “always had illusions” about Beijing and China’s “lure” had never stopped.

“The Department of State and the Embassy have collected the relevant information and handled it carefully. However, the Castro administration has also asked us for billions of dollars in huge economic aid and compared the prices of aid programs from Taiwan and China,” Wu said, according to Reuters.

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This comes after Taiwan’s former longtime ally, Honduras, severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan. “The government of the Republic of Honduras recognizes that Existence of only one China in the world and that the government of the People’s Republic of China is the only legitimate government representing all of China,” Honduras said in a statement.

“Taiwan is an inalienable part of Chinese territory…”

Wu told the media that Honduran Foreign Minister Eduardo Enrique Reina wrote to Taiwan this month asking for nearly $2.5 billion in aid, including a $2 billion loan to pay off the debt as well Funds for the construction of a hospital and a dam. The letter addressed Wu as “a friend,” the publication added, who saw a copy of the letter.

“It felt like they wanted money and not a hospital,” Wu said.

Honduras is ninth ally that Taiwan lost to China since the Tsai Ing Wen The first government took office.

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