Honduras opens Beijing embassy after switch from Taipei

Diplomatic office launched ahead of Honduran president’s expected meeting with her Chinese counterpart next week
Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang says Castro’s state visit is a “milestone”

Honduras

Holly Chik

Published: 5:30pm, 11 Jun 2023

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The foreign ministers of China and Honduras were on hand for the opening of the Central American nation’s embassy in Beijing on Sunday, cementing a diplomatic switch away from Taipei in March.

The opening follows the launch of the Chinese embassy in the Honduran capital Tegucigalpa on Monday and comes midway through a trip to China by Honduran President Xiomara Castro.

She landed in Shanghai on Friday and headed to Beijing on Saturday night where she will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping before returning on Wednesday.

Honduran leader Castro starts first China trip after establishing ties

Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang said Castro’s state visit was a “milestone”.

“The historic meeting between President Xi and President Castro will definitely lead bilateral relations to a new height and achieve new developments,” a foreign ministry statement quoted Qin as saying.

“China is willing to work with Honduras to continuously deepen mutually beneficial cooperation on the basis of mutual respect, benefit and joint development,” he said.

“[We] will turn the bilateral relations into a new model of friendly cooperation between countries of different scales, national conditions and systems.”

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Chinese embassy inaugurated in Honduras, as President Castro set to visit China

Honduran Foreign Minister Eduardo Enrique Reina said the rapid progress in relations in the past two months was testament to Castro’s strategic decision.

“Establishing diplomatic relations with China has opened a new era of Honduras’ relations with the world and opened the door to building a prosperous and great country for us,” he said, adding that Honduras would “firmly abide by the one-China policy”.

Honduras switched diplomatic allegiance to Beijing after severing ties with Taipei, leaving the self-ruled island – which Beijing sees as part of its territory – with just 13 allies.

Beijing refuses to maintain official ties with any country that recognises Taiwan and has stepped up efforts to isolate the island internationally.