Tsai Ing-wen, the Taiwanese leader will be visiting Eswatini, the island’s final African ally, early next month.
The federal government had made the announcement on Friday, August 25, as an attempt to reinforce its ties with allies at a time when China is cutting down on the small number of countries still supporting Taipei.
China has claimed Taiwan as its own territory and has affirmed that it had no right to state-to-state relations, but Taiwan presently has formal ties with only 13 countries, of which almost all are small, less developed nations in Latin America, the Caribbean and the Pacific, e.g. Belize and Nauru.
ImHonduras had in March 2023, terminated decades of ties with Taiwan, and Guatemala’s president-elect has expressed his intentions of wanting to better its relations with China at the same time as supporting Taiwan.
Meanwhile, Roy Lee, Taiwan’s deputy foreign minister had said that President Tsai will be in Eswatini, (formerly known as Swaziland) from September 5th to 7th for the 55th anniversary of the country’s independence, and to also mark 55 years of bilateral relations between the two.
Eswatini as a nation is almost entirely surrounded by South Africa.
President Tsai will fly directly to Eswatini, with no stop overs.
Tsai had last visited Eswatini in 2018, and this time, he will be accompanied by Economy Minister Wang Mei-hua, Lee revealed.
Taiwan has given substantial amounts of aid to the small southern African country, including providing an antiviral medication to help King Mswati III recuperate from COVID-19 in 2021.
