By: Staff Writer
June 9, 2023
Honduras, in the space of a week, cut ties with Taiwan, unveiled plans for a new Chinese Embassy and a new Free Trade Agreement with the People’s Republic of China and its President will travel to the country
Honduran officials have stated that they will ‘soon’ start negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA) with China. An FTA deal will significantly drive Honduras’ economic growth, enhancing ties between the world’s second largest economy and Latin American economies.
The announcement comes less than a week after China opened a new Embassy in the capital city of Tegucigalpa on June 5.
The ceremony was held at a hotel in the capital, Tegucigalpa, as Beijing has not yet defined the building where its diplomatic mission will operate.
An interim envoy, Yu Bo, will lead the embassy in Honduras and lead the search for a permanent embassy building, officials said.
“The Chinese Embassy in Honduras will do everything possible to fulfill the responsibilities of being the window, the platform, for relations between the two countries,” Yu said at Monday’s event.
Honduran Foreign Minister Enrique Reina told journalists that President Xiomara Castro would travel to China on Tuesday for her first official visit, scheduled for June 9 to 13.
“A series of memorandums, documents, framework agreements will be signed,” he said, and Castro would meet her counterpart, Xi Jinping.
Additionally, Honduran President Xiomara Castro has announced that she will travel to China as the Latin American country seeks stronger tieswith Beijing.
“At the invitation of President Xi Jinping, I will visit on a special mission with [Foreign Minister Enrique Reina] the People’s Republic of China between June 9 and 13,” Castro said in a Twitter post on Monday. “The refoundation of Honduras demands new political, scientific, technical, commercial and cultural horizons.”
The trip signifies China’s growing influence in Central America, where countries such as Honduras have sought to balance relations with the United States against their desire for heightened economic engagement with Beijing.
Castro’s visit also comes several months after Honduras established diplomatic ties with China, thereby ending its formal relationship with Taiwan.
With the US and China sparring over Taiwan now, whether this recent development in Honduras will spark more US activity in Central America is yet to be seen.
Currently, US Vice President, Kamala Harris, is in The Bahamas attending a meeting with Caribbean leaders where she will discuss regional security issues as well as climate change matters.