El Salvador, China and a bone of contention

Opponents of the establishment of a relations between China and El Salvador -- the US government among them -- suspect that a real-estate purchase was what launched the diplomatic operation.

The bone of contention is a lot of 73 hectares that a Chinese company, APX, wants for its plans to build a fish-processing factory, outside the port of La Unión.

The land forms a third of all that is owned by the state port authority, CEPA. La Unión so far has been a white elephant; the government has attempted unsuccessfully to buy it.