China welcomes Honduras move to establish diplomatic ties with Beijing

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) – Beijing on Wednesday said it “welcomes” Honduras’ decision to develop diplomatic ties with China.

“We welcome the statement by the Honduran side,” Wang Wenbin, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, told a news conference in Beijing.

China’s statement came after Honduras President Xiomara Castro said a day earlier that her government will seek to establish diplomatic relations with Beijing.

“The fact that 181 countries have established diplomatic relations with China on the basis of the one-China principle fully shows that establishing diplomatic ties with China is the right choice that accords with the trend of history and our times,” Wang said.

She added that Beijing was “ready to grow friendly and cooperative relations with all countries including Honduras on the basis of the one-China principle.”

Castro announced on Twitter that she had instructed Foreign Minister Eduardo Reina to “start negotiations with China and that her intention is to expand frontiers freely in concert with the nations of the world.”

The Central American country has currently diplomatic ties with Taiwan, which China considers as its “breakaway province.”

Honduras’ shifting relations to Beijing effectively leaves Taipei with only 13 allies with which the island nation enjoys full diplomatic relations.

Taipei has insisted on its independence since 1949.

Meanwhile, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said the US, the UK and Australia were “coercing” the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) over the AUKUS pact.

“China is gravely concerned about the IAEA director general’s latest statement in relation to the AUKUS nuclear submarine cooperation and firmly opposed to the US, the UK and Australia’s coercing the IAEA Secretariat into endorsement on the safeguards issues,” Wang said, adding there was “no guarantee” that the nuclear materials “will not be diverted by Australia to build nuclear weapons.”

Under AUKUS, a new fleet of submarines will be built by the UK and Australia based on the UK’s nuclear-powered submarine design.

The first UK submarines will be delivered in the late 2030s to replace the current Astute-Class vessels and the first Australian submarines will follow in the early 2040s.