Nicaraguan canal team quietly visit mainland

A top-level Nicaraguan delegation - headed by the president's son - travelled to mainland China and Hong Kong last week to discuss what could be the world's largest waterway project, the has learned.

The visit is the first to mainland China by such a large and high-powered delegation since Nicaragua switched diplomatic recognition from Beijing to Taipei in 1990.

Laureano Ortega Murillo - the son of Nicaragua's president, Daniel Ortega - led a group of 21 politicians, academics and businessmen on a tour to Beijing, Wuhan , Xuzhou and Hong Kong.

They were hosted by the Hong Kong Nicaragua Canal Development Investment (HKND), a company established last year to handle a US$40 billion canal project that would connect the Pacific Ocean with the Atlantic Ocean through Nicaragua.

Both governments wanted to keep the deal low-profile. Ortega junior declined to comment but the HKND chairman, Wang Jing, 41, said the project was "strictly commercial".

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing also stressed it was not a government-backed project. Still, given the delicate nature of the project and the relationship between Nicaragua, Beijing and Taipei, it could have wide geopolitical implications.

Nicaragua is one of the 23 countries that recognise Taipei instead of Beijing. The tour happened three weeks after Nicaraguan foreign minister Samuel Santos Lopez angered Taipei when he referred to Taiwan as China-Taiwan in a statement.