Taiwan is to donate NT$637 million (US$22.9 million) to Eswatini after the country saw a series of bloody clashes between democracy protesters and security forces in June and July.
Eswatini is Africa’s last absolutist monarchy and Taiwan’s sole diplomatic ally on that continent. The protests against a ban on political parties began in late May and descended into violence in the following months.
After dozens of people died in the protests, Amnesty International in July said that the kingdom’s response to the riots was “a ruthless crackdown on human rights,” adding that dozens of people were killed, and as many were tortured or abducted by the government.
Photo courtesy of the Eswatini Government
The situation in the country remains calm with sporadic episodes of violence, AllAfrica.com reported yesterday.
Ambassador to Eswatini Jeremy Liang (梁洪昇) on Monday joined a ceremony in the country marking the inauguration of a reconstruction fund initiated by Eswatini King Mswati III.
Liang said that Taiwan is proud to be part of the effort to rebuild Eswatini, adding that cooperation on reconstruction efforts show the importance of the strong ties between the two countries.
Liang called Taipei’s donation an expression of the “Taiwan can help” spirit.
In addition to Taiwan’s contribution, the fund’s NT$1.93 billion come from donations from the Royal Eswatini Police Service, the kingdom’s armed forces, and its state-owned energy company and insurance fund, as well as the country’s sugar industry and charitable groups.
Taiwan’s NT$637 million was the fund’s biggest contribution.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the situation in Eswatini has improved and that Taiwan’s humanitarian aid would be used to repair schools, hospitals and other infrastructure that were damaged during the civil unrest.
The ministry had restructured its cooperative pacts with Eswatini to prioritize humanitarian aid, the ministry added.
The NT$637 million are part of existing budgets and would not increase Taiwan’s spending on aid to Eswatini, it said.
The ministry and Taiwan’s embassy in the country are to jointly monitor the utilization of the funds to ensure efficiency, it said.
The ministry-affiliated International Cooperation and Development Fund is implementing a microloan program for Swazi women in rural communities, it said.
The 53-year friendship between the two countries runs deep, and Taiwan empathizes with the plight of Swazis, the ministry said, adding that Taipei hopes for Eswantini’s recovery, and peace and prosperity in the country.
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai