Honduras establishes ties with China after Taiwan break

Honduras established diplomatic ties with China on Sunday after breaking off relations with Taiwan, which is increasingly isolated and now recognized by only 13 sovereign states. Foreign ministers from China and Honduras signed a joint communique in Beijing — a decision the Chinese Foreign Ministry hailed as “the right choice.”

The diplomatic victory for China comes as tensions rise between Beijing and the United States, including over China's increasing assertiveness toward self-ruled Taiwan, and signals growing Chinese influence in Latin America. The new China-Honduras relationship was announced after the Honduran and Taiwanese governments made separate announcements that they were severing ties.

China and Taiwan have been locked in a battle for diplomatic recognition since they split amid civil war in 1949, with Beijing spending billions to win recognition for its “one China” policy.

EMILIO MORENATTI – THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Those who pray in Spain hope for some rain: Local residents take part in a procession carrying a statue of the Our Lady of the Torrents, a virgin historically associated with drought, in l'Espunyola, north of Barcelona, Spain, Sunday.