Responding to the reports that the U.S. government is pressing Honduras to reverse its decision before signing a formal diplomatic agreement with China, the Chinese foreign ministry on Monday said the U.S. should abandon the old-fashioned Monroe Doctrine and stop interfering in the sovereign affairs of relevant countries.

"The U.S. established diplomatic ties with China over 40 years ago based on recognizing the one-China principle. So what kind of right does the U.S. have to deprive other countries of their right to establish and develop diplomatic ties with China," said Wang Wenbin, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

He said that on the basis of the one-China principle, 181 countries have established diplomatic ties with China, which fully proves that establishing diplomatic ties with China is the right choice and conforms to the trend of history.

He added that China had successively established or restored diplomatic relations with Panama, El Salvador, Dominica and Nicaragua in recent years, and the practical cooperation has brought great benefit to the people of these countries.

China welcomes the remarks by the Honduran government on developing relations with China and is willing to develop bilateral relations with Honduras based on equality and mutual respect, Wang said.

He stressed that any sovereign state has the right to develop diplomatic relations with other countries, and no one has the right to interfere. If the U.S. government, as the reports said, is putting pressure on Honduras, then it shows that the U.S. statement of respecting sovereignty is "pure empty talk".

(Cover: The national flags of Honduras and China. /CFP)