Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday hailed the "historic decision" by Honduran President Xiomara Castro to switch the Central American country's diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in March as the two met in the capital, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said.
Castro is making her first visit to China since the establishment of diplomatic ties between Tegucigalpa and Beijing, leaving the number of countries that officially recognize Taiwan at a record-low 13.
Xi pledged that China will "firmly support economic and social development in Honduras," the ministry said.
During Castro's six-day state visit to China from Friday, the embassy of Honduras was inaugurated in Beijing and a bilateral high-level business meeting involving some 200 delegates from both sides was held in the capital over the weekend, according to state-run media.
Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang and his Honduran counterpart Enrique Reina attended the inauguration ceremony of the embassy on Sunday, with Qin saying adherence to the one-China principle serves the fundamental interests of the two countries and two peoples, the official Xinhua News Agency said.
Honduras became the ninth country to cut ties with Taiwan since Tsai Ing-wen of the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party became the island's president in May 2016.
Communist-led China and Taiwan have been separately governed since they split in 1949 due to a civil war. Beijing regards the democratic island as a renegade province to be unified with the mainland, by force if necessary.
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