Promoting ties 

Back on March 25, the Honduran foreign ministry announced that Honduras was severing its so-called "diplomatic relations" with the Taiwan authorities. The following day, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang and Honduran Foreign Minister Eduardo Reina signed the joint communiqué following bilateral talks.

A recent Associated Press report said "the ties formed in March were a diplomatic victory for China amid heightened tensions between Beijing and the United States... It also signaled China's growing influence in Latin America..."

The U.S. should welcome positive Sino-Honduran relations, Josef Gregory Mahoney, a professor of politics and international relations at East China Normal University, told Beijing Review.

Honduras suffers from chronic underdevelopment, violence and destabilizing migrations, for which the U.S. bears some historical responsibility but has an inability at this point to help resolve, Mahoney said, adding that "if China can help Honduras develop through the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) through increased trade and so on, then this will benefit everyone in the region, including the U.S." The BRI is a China-proposed initiative that aims to boost connectivity along and beyond the ancient Silk Road routes.

"This new era of China-Honduras relations promises a win-win-win outcome that all should encourage and support," Mahoney said.

The historic meeting between Xi and Castro took place less than three months after the signing, demonstrating the great importance the two sides attach to enhancing ties. Their consensus will inject strong impetus into future bilateral relations, Song Junying, head of the Department for Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) Studies at the China Institute of International Studies, told Xinhua News Agency.

"China will remain committed to developing friendly relations with Honduras, firmly support economic and social development in Honduras, and forge a good friendship and partnership with Honduras featuring mutual respect, equality, mutual benefit and common development," Xi said during their talks.

Regarding the deepening of political mutual trust, Xi said the one-China principle was the primary prerequisite and political foundation for the establishment of diplomatic ties and the development of bilateral relations between China and Honduras, and it is believed that Honduras will act upon it faithfully. 

Castro, for her part, said Honduras firmly supports and abides by the one-China principle as well as supports efforts from the Chinese Government to realize national reunification.

China is ready to strengthen exchanges of experience on state governance, share experience in poverty eradication, social governance and corruption punishment, and encourage exchanges and cooperation among governments, legislatures, political parties and subnational sectors, Xi added.

The Honduran side firmly believes that friendly cooperation with China will bring Honduras more and better development opportunities, and the country looks forward to strengthening cooperation with China in such areas as trade, investment, infrastructure and people-to-people exchanges, Castro said.

Exchanges and cooperation between the two peoples were taking place even before the official relationship was established, Han Han, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) Institute of Latin American Studies, told Beijing Review.

For instance, in 2015, Chinese and Honduran archaeologists initiated a project to jointly decipher the ancient mysteries of the Mayan civilization using the latest archaeological techniques and technologies. Chinese archaeologists first traveled to the Mayan site of Copán in Honduras that same year and have been collaborating on the ongoing project ever since.

The Central American country is well known for being one of the centers of the Mayan civilization, one of the world's oldest civilizations which dates back more than 5,000 years, making the project an effective channel for promoting cultural exchange and mutual learning. Moreover, a new joint archaeological project between China and Honduras is set for 2024, according to the CASS Institute of Archaeology. China will send three archaeologists to Honduras and start the next round of archaeological work.

The Patuca III Hydroelectric Plant in Olancho, Honduras, one of the most modern hydroelectric power plants in Central America, was built by the Power Construction Corp. of China (PowerChina). The plant has an installed capacity of 104 megawatts and an average annual power generation of 336 million kilowatt-hours (kWh), meeting around 6 percent of the country's power demand.

Its construction started in 2015 and it was connected to the national grid in December 2020. "The plant has upgraded the country's infrastructure and promoted bilateral cooperation in green energy and technical engineering," Han said.

In 2019, PowerChina was also contracted to build the Arenal hydropower project in Honduras, which is expected to generate 360 million kWh every year and provide electricity to about 1 million residents in three provinces of the country.