Honduras to begin trade talks with China, reaffirming ties

Honduras will engage in talks with China to establish a trade deal between the two countries, after switching its recognition from Taipei to Beijing, the Central American foreign minister said on Friday. 

The talks will be held “soon” and will include the discussion of a “free trade” agreement with China, the world’s second-largest economy, Honduran Foreign Minister Eduardo Enrique Reina told reporters. 

"We will be starting soon a process of negotiating an FTA with China, which will be good news and (provide) opportunities for access of our products to China," said Reina, adding that Coffee will be the first major export that might get sent to China, given that Honduras is one of the region’s main coffee growers. 

Other trade agreements on the table include shipments of melon and shrimp. China is also interested in buying Honduran beef, cigars, and bananas, Reina said. 

The establishment of a free trade agreement with the Asian giant opens up “a range of possibilities” for deals in other areas as well, including infrastructure, finance, energy, and technology, Reina continued. 

In March, Honduras announced it was breaking diplomatic ties with Taiwan and establishing a relationship with China. China and Taiwan have been fighting over influence in Latin America since 1949, with China claiming that Taiwan is part of its territory. Beijing does not allow a country to maintain relationships with both Taiwan and China at the same time, making countries choose to support only one of them. 

Honduras is the latest country to switch its recognition to China, following the footsteps of El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama. Taiwan currently has only 13 official diplomatic partners, half of which are small countries in Latin America and the Caribbean: Guatemala, Belize, Haiti, Paraguay, Saint Lucia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and the Grenadines.