Foreign Minister Eduardo Enrique Reina joined Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang at the inauguration ceremony at the embassy Sunday, marking a furtherance of the countries’ relationship. Photo courtesy of Hua Chunying/
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June 11 (UPI) -- Months after severing its diplomatic ties with Taiwan, Honduras has opened a new embassy in China on Sunday.
Foreign Minister Eduardo Enrique Reina joined Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang at the inauguration ceremony at the embassy in Beijing, marking a furtherance of the countries' relationship.
"It's a fact! Inauguration of the Embassy of Honduras in the People's Republic of China," the government of Honduras tweeted Sunday. "We continue to strengthen the ties of cooperation and friendship for the development of our peoples."
China meanwhile opened an embassy in the Honduran capital Tegucigalpa last week. Honduran President Xiomara Castro is also on a visit to China, the South China Morning Post reported.
"The historic meeting between President Xi and President Castro will definitely lead bilateral relations to a new height and achieve new developments," Qin said in a statement. "[We] will turn the bilateral relations into a new model of friendly cooperation between countries of different scales, national conditions and systems."
Honduras ended its diplomatic relationship with Taiwan in March in support of the "one China" principle. In a statement, the Honduran government said Taiwan is an "inalienable part of Chinese territory."
"Taiwan is an inalienable part of Chinese territory and as of this date, the Honduran Government has communicated to Taiwan the rupture of diplomatic relations, pledging not to have any official relationship or contact with Taiwan again," the statement reads.
Honduras' switch in allegiances is a significant development for Taiwan. China has been adversarial to nations that recognize Taiwan's claims to independence. The situation has also exacerbated tensions between China and the United States.
The United States entered a new trade agreement with Taiwan earlier this year. China "strongly" opposed the deal, saying that it "gravely violates the one-China principle as well as the three China-U.S. joint communique."
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning called for the United States to stop all forms of interaction with Taiwan immediately.
