41 Chinese citizens placed under review in Honduras — South China Morning Post
After inspections of shops in Comayagüela and the construction site of a hospital in Choluteca, Honduras’ migration authorities ordered 25 Chinese citizens to undergo additional document checks. Another 16 Chinese workers at the hospital construction site were found to have unresolved migration status, South China Morning Post reports.
Inspections of shops and hospital
Staff from the National Migration Institute, together with police and intelligence officers, interviewed 86 Chinese citizens at 54 shops in Comayagüela, a satellite city of Tegucigalpa and an important commercial district. Twenty-five of them were ordered to appear for additional document checks.
Migration officials also visited the construction site of a regional hospital in Choluteca, in the south of the country. The hospital is being built by the Chinese state-owned company SFECO Group. Inspectors found that 16 of the 128 Chinese workers at the site had unresolved migration status.
The institute did not specify what exactly the problems with these workers’ documents were or whether any of them would be deported.
Separate inspection of shops
A few days later, municipal authorities launched a separate inspection of 70 shops owned by Chinese proprietors. It was initiated following complaints from Honduran traders, who said their competitors were selling goods below cost.
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Municipal police judge Fredy Casasola told TSi television that approximately 68–70% of these businesses operate in violation of regulations. Establishments that fail to regularize their status may be temporarily or permanently closed. Municipal authorities and the National Migration Institute did not say whether the shops inspected as part of the two checks overlap.
Mayor Juan Diego Zelaya said that nationality does not affect the inspections. According to him, the authorities will not allow law-abiding businesses to be placed at a disadvantage compared with enterprises that may operate outside legal norms.
Context of relations with China
The inspections are taking place nine months after President Nasry Asfura took office. During the election campaign, he promised to restore relations with Taiwan. His predecessor, Xiomara Castro, severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan in favor of Beijing in March 2023. Asfura ordered a review of agreements signed by the Castro administration with China, but in June Honduras’ Foreign Ministry denied that official talks with Taipei were being held.
The contract to build the hospital, worth more than $100 million, was signed during Castro’s presidency. The facility had been planned for completion in November last year, but construction is still ongoing.
