It was only a matter of time before China reacted to the visit that the Taiwanese president, Lai Ching Te, recently made to the last absolute monarchy in Africa, Eswatini, a country better known globally as Eswatini. The spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Asian giant, Lin Jian, has lashed out against the authorities of this country, accusing them of being "sustained and nurtured" by the self-governing island that they consider an integral part of their territory. "Lai Ching-te's trip to Eswatini as a stowaway is a perfect proof that separatist acts for Taiwan's independence are too shameful to be made public," Lin Jian continued, using a particularly harsh tone of condemnation against the Kingdom nestled in South Africa.
The reaction comes after the surprise arrival of President Lai Ching Te in Eswatini, where he was received with the highest honors by King Mswati III and his entire Court. The visit was received with special jubilation and somewhat portrayed as a triumph in the very unequal war that Taiwan and Eswatini are waging against China. Beijing had managed to prevent the leader of what they consider a rebellious island from traveling to the small African nation at the end of April, as planned, to participate in the celebrations for the 40th anniversary of the absolute monarch's reign.
The Taiwanese Presidency had to cancel the trip after Seychelles, Mauritius, and Madagascar suddenly revoked overflight authorizations, succumbing to the coercion exerted by the Asian giant. So when Lai Ching Te finally landed in Eswatini on Saturday without prior communication, after a flight on one of Mswati III's private planes, it was a direct challenge to Beijing. "In the face of unjust censorship that we experience, we will respond with justice and reason. We are a people who celebrate freedom and peace and do not seek confrontation, but we will never give up on our path to the world," celebrated Lai Ching-te alongside the king who has become the great international diplomatic support of the self-governing island.
Mswati III alongside the Taiwanese leader at a State banquet.EFE
During the weekend, the President of Taiwan emphasized the "solid friendship" that has united Taipei and Eswatini for 58 years. And, in the economic sphere, he signed with Mswati III a mutual assistance agreement in customs matters aimed at streamlining bilateral trade.
Eswatini is one of only 13 countries worldwide - mostly Caribbean and some small Pacific islands - that officially recognize the sovereignty of the Republic of China, the official name of Taiwan since the arrival of Chiang Kai-shek's Kuomintang in 1949. And the only one in all of Africa - out of a total of 54 states on the continent.
For many years, Beijing has exerted tremendous pressure on the small kingdom of 1.3 million inhabitants where Mswati III rules with an iron fist, in order to get it, as so many countries have done one after another, to abandon what the Asian giant considers a rebellious island part of its territory. But the sovereign of Eswatini has remained resolute and defiant, ignoring all the warnings repeatedly issued by the Chinese Communist Party.