Sawt Falasteen - China inaugurates embassy in Honduras

The ceremony was held at a hotel in the capital Tegucigalpa, as Beijing has not yet defined the building where its diplomatic mission will operate.

An interim envoy, Yu Bo, will lead the embassy in Honduras and lead the search for a permanent embassy building, officials said.

"The Chinese embassy in Honduras will do everything possible to fulfill the responsibilities of being the window, the platform, for relations between the two countries," Yu said at Monday's event.

Honduran Foreign Minister Enrique Reina told journalists that President Xiomara Castro would travel to China on Tuesday for her first official visit, scheduled for June 9 to 13.

"A series of memorandums, documents, framework agreements will be signed," he said, and Castro would meet her counterpart Xi Jinping.

China has already opened the door for imports of melons, shrimp, bananas and other Honduran products, even before the start of negotiations for a free trade agreement, added Reina.

In March, Honduras cut diplomatic ties with Taiwan and recognized China.

The switch reduced the number of number of countries that diplomatically recognize Taiwan to 13.

China considers the self-ruled, democratic island as part of its territory to be retaken one day.

Under its "One China" policy, it does not allow countries to officially recognize both Beijing and Taipei.

A.Suleiman--SF-PST