TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Honduras has failed to provide financial support to 90 students in Taiwan despite a promise after last year’s break in diplomatic relations, reports said Saturday (March 16).

The two countries ended official diplomatic ties in March 2023 as President Xiomara Castro of Honduras prepared a switch to China. Her government was supposed to take over the obligation of providing the students with scholarships and other financial support.

However, the students failed to receive anything since the beginning of 2024, Tai Sounds reported Saturday. They wrote a letter to the president, who reportedly replied the funds would arrive on Feb. 29, but nothing happened.

After the diplomatic switch, about 20 Honduran students moved to China to continue their studies, while 90 stayed in Taiwan, the report said. Their situation was precarious as some of them did not have enough money to pay for a new semester of studies or for housing.

Out of 26 schools in Taiwan, 20 were willing to offer scholarships or to provide other financial advantages, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said Saturday. The expiry of their airline tickets home had also been postponed until after their graduation date, per CNA.