China urges US to respect foreign policy of other countries

BEIJING, March 20 (Xinhua) -- The United States should abandon the outdated Monroe Doctrine, respect the right of each country to decide its foreign policy, and stop interfering in the sovereign affairs of relevant countries, a spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry said Monday.

According to media reports, sources said that after Honduran President Xiomara Castro expressed readiness to establish diplomatic ties with China, the United States began to exert diplomatic pressure on Honduras, trying to persuade Honduras to withdraw the decision before formally signing the diplomatic relations agreement with China.

In response to a related query, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told a daily news briefing that the fact that 181 countries have established diplomatic relations with China based on 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.

China welcomes the Honduran government's positive statement on developing relations with China and is willing to establish and develop bilateral relations with Honduras based on equality and mutual respect, Wang noted.

In recent years, Panama, El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, and Nicaragua have established or resumed diplomatic relations with China, Wang said, adding that the practical cooperation between China and these countries made rapid progress, which has delivered tangible benefits to the people of the countries concerned.

"Any sovereign country has the right to develop diplomatic relations on its own, and other countries have no right to interfere," Wang stressed, adding that if the report of U.S. diplomatic pressure on Honduras is true, it just shows that the U.S. statement that every country decides its own foreign policy based on sovereignty is empty talk.

Wang said the United States itself established diplomatic relations with China based on recognizing the one-China principle more than 40 years ago. "How can it deprive or obstruct other countries' right to establish diplomatic ties and develop relations with China?"