Honduras opens embassy in China after cutting ties with Taiwan

Honduras has opened an embassy in China after the Central American nation cut diplomatic relations with Taiwan earlier this year.

Chinese state media CCTV reports that the embassy in Beijing was opened by foreign ministers from the two countries.

Honduran President Xiomara Castro is in China for a state visit, during which she is to meet with her Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, state media have reported.

In March, the government of Honduras broke off its decades-long relationship with Taiwan in favour of Beijing.

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Castro hopes the move will help to expand the cooperation of her country of ten million inhabitants with the world’s second-largest economy.

Taiwan has had an independent government since 1949, but China considers the democratic island part of its territory and refuses to maintain official relations with any country that formally recognises Taiwan diplomatically.

Taiwan now has formal diplomatic relations with only 13 countries, mostly poor and developing countries in Central America, the Caribbean and the Pacific.