Honduran President To Visit China After Establishing Ties

Facts

• Honduras Foreign Minister Enrique Reina announced on Monday that President Xiomara Castro is set to travel later this week to China, marking her first visit to the country since establishing formal diplomatic relations with Beijing in March.¹
• Further details were provided later, with Castro stating on Twitter that she will be on a special mission to the PRC, along with Reina, between June 9 and 14 at the invitation of China's Pres. Xi Jinping.²
• This comes as China officially inaugurated its embassy in Tegucigalpa on Monday in a ceremony held at a hotel, as Beijing is yet to define the permanent building where its diplomatic mission will operate.³
• The Chinese state-owned Global Times reported that discussions during Castro's visit are expected to focus on cooperation, including agricultural exports, investments, and projects on the Belt and Road Initiative. This echoes Reina, who last month reportedly said they would soon start Free Trade Agreements (FTA) negotiations.⁴
• On March 26, Honduras established formal diplomatic ties with the PRC on the basis of the one-China principle, becoming the 182nd country to do so.⁵
• Beijing doesn't allow countries to maintain formal relations with both the PRC and Taiwan, which now maintains official relations with just 13 countries, as many nations switch diplomatic ties from Taipei to Beijing.⁶

Sources: ¹Reuters, ²TeleSUR English, ³VOA, ⁴Global Times, ⁵China Daily, and ⁶Al Jazeera.

Narratives

• Anti-China narrative, as provided by VOA. Honduras is being used by China in its campaign to isolate Taiwan. The plan uses trade and investment — including its multi-billion-dollar Belt and Road initiative to build ports, railways, power plants, and other infrastructure for developing nations — as incentives for switching diplomatic ties. Before Honduras, where China is constructing a massive dam, China bribed Costa Rica, Panama, El Salvador, and Nicaragua.
• Pro-China narrative, as provided by Global Times. Honduras will largely benefit from strengthening ties with China, which is willing to share its development dividends with the world. By creating opportunities in several areas, including trade, infrastructure, technology, energy and finance, cooperation with the world's second largest economy can boost the Central American country's economy.