Minister defends asylum for daughter of deposed Honduran president

Taipei, Sept.29 (CNA) Taiwan's embassy in Honduras provided temporary political asylum to the youngest daughter of deposed Honduran President Manuel Zelaya out of humanitarian concern, Foreign Minister Timothy C.T. Yang acknowledged Tuesday.

Yang was responding to a local newspaper report that said Taiwan's embassy in Honduras provided political asylum for Zelaya's youngest daughter after her father was forced out of the Central American country at gunpoint June 28.

"Zelaya's daughter indeed sought asylum at our embassy in Tegucigalpa June 28, " Yang said. "At the time, she was seven months pregnant. As she has not been involved in politics, we agreed to her request purely out of humanitarian concern." According to Yang, Zelaya's daughter and her 5-year-old child stayed at the embassy until July 10.

Asked whether the granting of asylum would embroil Taiwan in Honduras' political infighting, Yang said: "Not at all." "The embassy informed the interim Honduran government of its decision to grant asylum to Zelaya's daughter from the very beginning, " Yang said.

The Honduran authorities did not challenge the decision and instead expressed their understanding, he said.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said they were still closely monitoring the tense political standoff in the Central American country, but they refrained from commenting on the situation based on the principle of maintaining diplomatic neutrality.