INTERNATIONAL: Taiwan Vice President William Lai left on Tuesday ,January 25, to shore up a shaky alliance with Honduras and attend the swearing in of its new leader, an event U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris is also going go, potentially giving the two a chance to meet.

Honduras is one of only 14 countries to maintain formal diplomat relations with Taiwan. Honduran President-elect Xiomara Castro has floated the idea of ditching Taipei for Beijing.

Lai, who is scheduled to meet Castro on Wednesday ,January 26, has added he will have "interactions and exchanges" with "leaders and deputy leaders" of allies and "friendly countries" also sending delegations, though did not directly mention Harris. As is common when Taiwanese leaders visit Latin American allies, Lai is stopping over in the United States both on his way to and back from Honduras, which China has as usual expressed its opposition to.

China has been stepping up efforts to win over Taiwan's remaining diplomatic allies, last month re-establishing ties with Nicaragua, and has openly said it is aiming to bring down the number to zero.