CCP invites Honduran president to visit China after establishing diplomatic relations

The Chinese Communist Party invited the president of Honduras, Xiomara Castro for a visit, after establishing diplomatic relations, the Honduran Executive newspaper reported this Sunday.

"The Government of Honduras appreciates the official invitation to visit the country made by the Government of the People's Republic of China to President Xiomara Castro," the Executive said in a statement.

The invitation came after Honduras and China announced the establishment of diplomatic relations, after the Central American country broke those it had with Taiwan since 1941.

The Joint Communiqué on the Establishment of Relations between China and Honduras, which formalizes the ties between the two nations, was signed in Beijing by the foreign ministers of Honduras, Eduardo Reina, and China, Qin Gang.

"With this historic decision, the Government of the Republic of Honduras broadens the development horizon for the Honduran people, strengthening Honduras' foreign relations in the bilateral and multilateral field," he stressed.

The establishment of diplomatic ties between Honduras and China occurred eleven days after the Honduran president announced her intention to establish relations with the Asian giant and the same day that she announced the break with Taiwan.

The communiqué states that the two governments "agreed to develop friendly ties based on the principles of mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, non-aggression, non-intervention in each other's internal affairs, equality, reciprocal benefit, and peaceful coexistence.

"The Government of Honduras recognizes that there is only one China in the world, that the Government of the People's Republic of China is the only one that legally represents China and that Taiwan is an inalienable part of its territory," the document added.

Honduras and China also agreed to "cooperate on issues of mutual interest" and jointly promote the signing of agreements in "areas of cooperation, such as finance, trade, infrastructure, energy, technology, culture, tourism, education and health, among others, with based on reciprocal benefit and shared integral development."

Honduras informed Taiwan this Saturday of "the rupture of diplomatic relations" and promised to "not have any official relationship or contact again" with the island, which the Taiwanese Foreign Minister, Joseph Wu, described as "deeply regrettable."

In a press conference, Wu revealed that the Honduran government asked the Taiwan government on March 13 for 2 billion dollars to restructure its foreign debt, 350 million dollars for a dam and another 90 million to build a hospital.

Honduras and Taiwan maintained a relationship of military, educational, and economic cooperation, and the island financed technical and agricultural aid projects and also hosted hundreds of Honduran scholarship holders at its universities.

The rupture of relations with Taiwan by Honduras reduces the number of countries with which Taipei maintains official diplomatic relations to only 13.