2023-06-11 06:42:01
BEIJING (AP) — Honduras inaugurated an embassy in Beijing on Sunday, Chinese state media reported, months after the Central American nation severed relations with Taiwan to establish diplomatic ties with China.
Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang and his Honduran counterpart Enrique Reina participated in the inauguration of the embassy on Sunday morning, Chinese official television station CCTV said. The report added that Honduras still needed to determine the permanent location of the embassy and that it would increase its staff there.
Honduran President Xiomara Castro began a six-day visit to China on Friday, symbolizing the strengthening of diplomatic ties between the two nations.
Honduras established formal relations with China in March, becoming the latest in a series of governments to sever diplomatic ties with Taiwan. Beijing views the self-governing island as a breakaway province that must be reincorporated into its territory, by force if necessary, and prohibits its diplomatic allies from having a formal relationship with Taipei.
Castro arrived in Shanghai for his first visit since China established ties with his country.
During her stay in Shanghai, the president visited the headquarters of the New Development Bank, created by the BRICS group of nations, which includes Brazil, China, India, Russia and South Africa. Honduras applied for admission to the bank, Castro’s office tweeted on Saturday.
The president also visited a research center of Chinese giant Huawei in Shanghai before arriving in Beijing on Saturday night, China’s official Global Times newspaper reported.
The ties announced in March were a diplomatic victory for China amid escalating tensions between Beijing and the United States motivated, among other things, by China’s growing assertiveness toward Taiwan and its growing influence in Latin America.
China and Taiwan have been locked in a battle for diplomatic recognition since they split amid civil war in 1949, with Beijing spending billions to gain recognition for its “one China” policy.
Since Taiwan’s pro-independence President Tsai Ing-wen took office in 2016, China has managed to win over nine former Taipei allies with a campaign that includes multi-billion-dollar investments.
Taiwan now has just 13 diplomatic partners, including Belize, Paraguay and Guatemala in Latin America; the Vatican and several other nations in the Caribbean and South Pacific, as well as Eswatini in southern Africa.
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