President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday pledged to explore new cooperation with Taiwan’s sole African diplomatic ally, the Kingdom of Eswatini, as she met with the country’s first female foreign minister.
Swazi Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Thulisile Dladla, who arrived in Taiwan on Sunday for a five-day visit, met with Tsai at the Presidential Office Building in Taipei yesterday morning.
“Being of the female gender myself, I fully understand what a remarkable achievement it is,” Tsai said in a speech, referring to Dladla’s inauguration as Eswatini’s first female foreign minister in November last year.
Photo: CNA
Tsai, who was sworn in as Taiwan’s first female president in May 2016, said that she believed under Dladla’s leadership the friendship and partnership between Taiwan and eSwatini would become closer than ever.
Despite the geographical distance between the two nations, Taiwan and Eswatini see no obstacles in their friendship, Tsai said, adding that the two governments would not only make an effort to maintain existing partnerships, they would also seek to explore new ones.
Recounting her visit to Eswatini in April last year to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the independence of the African country and the establishment of diplomatic ties between Taiwan and Eswatini, Tsai said that the energetic Swazi culture left a lasting impression on her.
“During the visit, I also witnessed the fruits of our bilateral cooperation in medicine, education and trade,” Tsai said.
In addition to technical cooperation, she said she hoped to see more Taiwanese businesspeople use Eswatini as a base to enter Africa, which would create an environment of mutual reciprocity and mutual assistance.
Eswatini became Taiwan’s only African diplomatic ally after Burkina Faso severed ties and switched recognition to Beijing in May last year.
Taiwan has lost four other diplomat allies to China since Tsai’s inauguration: El Salvador; Sao Tome and Principe; Panama; and the Dominican Republic.
Amid speculation about his country potentially switching recognition to China, Swazi King Mswati III visited Taiwan in June last year and has repeatedly pledged his country’s loyalty to Taiwan.
SPY GAMES: For more than 20 years, intelligence officers traveled to China, where they identified other MIB personnel and allegedly traded secrets for money and gifts The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday indicted four retired Military Intelligence Bureau (MIB) officials, who are accused of providing China with a list of bureau personnel and other classified materials while attempting to recruit colleagues into a spy network in Taiwan. Prosecutors charged Chang Chao-jan (張超然), Chou Tien-tzu (周天慈) and Wang Ta-wang (王大旺), former colonels at the bureau, and Yueh Chih-chung (岳志忠) — a former major general and chief of the MIB’s Fifth Bureau, where he was in charge of sending agents to China on covert assignments — with breaches of the National Security Act (國家安全法) and the National Intelligence Services
MAKING A MOVE: Starting on Monday, short-term business travelers can apply for shorter quarantine periods, while transits of up to eight hours would be allowed The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday announced an easing of restrictions that would from Monday next week allow foreigners to visit or make a transit flight in Taiwan. A policy allowing short-term business travelers from countries with low or medium risks of COVID-19 infections to apply for shorter quarantine periods is also to resume that day. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, said that while the autumn-winter COVID-19 prevention program is to be extended after the end of this month, special conditions for foreign nationals to enter Taiwan would be restored from Monday. Foreign nationals
CONTINUED VIGILANCE: People would still be required to wear masks at eight types of public spaces and border controls would continue, Chen Shih-chung told reporters The government’s autumn-winter COVID-19 prevention program is to continue beyond Sunday, but eating and drinking on high-speed trains would be allowed from Monday, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) announced yesterday. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, said that while there were no new confirmed cases in Taiwan yesterday, the global COVID-19 situation remains serious, so the autumn-winter COVID-19 prevention program would be extended beyond its Sunday deadline. “Border control measures, including requiring a negative polymerase chain reaction test result obtained within three days of boarding a plane to Taiwan, and undergoing quarantine in a
MORE RISK? Three Taiwanese family members were found to have the Brazilian variant, which CDC Deputy Director-General Philip Lo said might be more infectious From Wednesday, all travelers who have been in Brazil in the past 14 days are required to be quarantined at a centralized facility after arriving in Taiwan and undergo a COVID-19 test upon ending quarantine, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) announced yesterday. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, said that starting from 12am on Wednesday, all travelers arriving from Brazil, including those who have transited through the country in the past 14 days, would have to stay at a centralized quarantine facility. “They will be tested for COVID-19 upon completing the 14-day quarantine, and they