Taiwan has only one remaining ally on the continent of Africa – its only absolute monarchy, eSwatini. That will not change anytime soon, its foreign affairs minister told Reuters on Wednesday, warning China not to bother pressuring the country.
Foreign Affairs Minister Mgwagwa Gamedze remarks follow comments on Wednesday by Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Chen Xiaodong implying that the nation was considering cutting ties to Taiwan, which according to Mgwagwa have spanned half a century. The nation of eSwatini fully recognizes Taiwan’s sovereignty, violating the Communist Party’s “one China” rule and thus making it impossible for eSwatini to have diplomatic relations with China.
Chen told reporters that he believed it was “a widespread shared expectation of African nations” that eSwatini would abandon Taiwan and that he believed it would occur “in the not too distant future.”
“They must not play mind games because our relationship with Taiwan is over 50 years so we will not dump them,” Mgwagwa, on a visit to Taiwan currently, told Reuters. “We have no desire to change camps since Taiwan has been good to us.”
Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu also dismissed Chen’s comments, though slightly less forcefully than his counterpart Mgwagwa. “This is an exaggerated issue,” he told reporters some hours after attending a lunch meeting with Mgwagwa.
Taiwan and then-Swaziland established diplomatic relations in 1949 and have since kept commercial, cultural, and other ties firm. Taiwan is home to the largest number of eSwatini citizens eligible to vote outside of the country and the educational destination of choice for the family of the nation’s king, Mswati III. Mswati III was most recently in Taiwan in June to attend his son’s graduation from Shih Chien University in Taipei. Prince Benkhosi Dlamini delivered a speech in English and Mandarin at his graduation in which he proclaimed “I love Taiwan,” and remains in the country pursuing an advanced degree.
China has nonetheless escalated pressure on the nation, the last Taiwanese ally on the continent, to abandon Taipei, especially following Burkina Faso’s decision to cut ties to Taiwan and switch allegiances to Beijing in May. At the time, an eSwatini government spokesman called rumors that his nation would follow “fake news,” though that does not appear to have stopped China from attempting to convince the country to change its mind.
During his regular press briefing Wednesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said China expects eSwatini to accept “joining the big family of China-Africa friendship and cooperation … sooner rather than later.”
Lu also addressed condemnation of China’s latest convert: El Salvador, which announced this week it would cut ties with Taiwan. “The Salvadoran government made the same right choice as the UN and other 177 countries,” Lu said. “Others are in no position to interfere in it or even try to deter it.” Lu particularly condemned the United States for its “unreasonable” position of having allowed Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen enter the country last week and for lamenting El Salvador’s choice when Washington officially recognizes the “one China principle.”
Tsai issued a scathing rebuke of China in her response to the announcement, asserting that China was “out of control” and threatening global stability.
“As a member of the international community, Taiwan is entitled to its place in the world, and engage with the world. Twenty-three million Taiwanese, like people in other nations, have the right to equality, freedom, independent sovereignty, and dignity. This is our position, and an axiomatic truth,” she said in a statement. “China’s actions around the world—whether interfering in other countries’ internal affairs, or undermining the international market order—have already caused serious global instability. We must remind the international community once again that this is not just Taiwan’s problem. The situation is urgent and leaves no room for appeasement!”
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