TEGUCIGALPA, March 29 (Portal) – Honduran President Xiomara Castro will travel to China “soon”, the Honduran foreign ministry said on Twitter on Wednesday, without giving a date for the trip.
The announcement came days after China established diplomatic ties with Honduras as the Central American country ended its decades-long relationship with Taiwan.
Honduras’ foreign minister traveled to China last week, days after Castro tweeted that her government would seek ties with Beijing, which officially opened ties with Honduras on Sunday.
The diplomatic shift has drawn attention back to China’s growing footprint in Latin America.
China welcomes the visit “as soon as possible” to establish bilateral ties, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning said at a regular briefing on Thursday.
“We stand ready to strengthen high-level exchanges with Honduras, continuously increase political trust and mutual understanding, and jointly promote cooperation and communication in all fields,” Mao said.
Taiwan, which has diplomatic ties with just 13 countries, has accused Honduras of demanding exorbitant sums of money before severing ties.
Reporting by Gustavo Palencia; Additional reporting by Eduardo Baptista in Beijing; writing by Brendan O’Boyle and Liz Lee; Edited by Anthony Esposito, Sandra Maler and Bernadette Baum
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