Beijing is entrenching its business and economic interests in Eswatini in an increasingly successful courtship of Taiwan’s only diplomatic ally in Africa, Semafor Africa said in a report on Tuesday.
The kingdom of Eswatini has long supported Taiwan and was the only one of Africa’s 54 nations to decline to attend last week’s triennial China-Africa summit in Beijing, the media outlet said.
Yet, the southern African nation is “quietly warming to China” as an influx of Chinese “enterprises, businesspeople and even state actors” dig “deep roots in Eswatini’s economy,” it said, citing sources in the local business community.
Photo: AP
Ambassador to Eswatini Jeremy Liang (梁洪昇) was cited as saying that a “significant number of Chinese nationals” flowing into Eswatini, a nation of 1.2 million people, would eventually “undermine” Taiwan’s diplomatic mission.
In another indication of strengthening ties, Eswatini mines authority head Guduza Dlamini and a high-profile local entrepreneur led a delegation late year, allegedly to talk with Chinese investors and pave the way for establishing diplomatic relations, it said.
Eswatini government spokesman Alpheous Nxumalo had denied that the delegation’s mission was to initiate dialogue about the kingdom switching diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China, the report said.
That statement is belied by Eswatini’s awarding of a US$165 million project to build the Mpakeni Embankment Dam to Beijing-owned ChinaPower, the outlet said.
The Eswatini government said at the time that even though the kingdom has “yet to establish formal diplomatic relations” with China, it recognizes ChinaPower’s “brand influence in the southern African region.”
Taiwan established an embassy at Mbabane, the capital of Eswatini, in 1968, the year it declared its independence from the UK.
So far, Eswatini has resisted Beijing’s calls for it to cut ties with Taiwan, including threats to sever all economic ties. The kingdom is one of the Taiwan’s 12 diplomatic allies.
Taiwan has received more than US$70 million in royalties as of the end of last year from developing the F-16V jet as countries worldwide purchase or upgrade to this popular model, government and military officials said on Saturday. Taiwan funded the development of the F-16V jet and ended up the sole investor as other countries withdrew from the program. Now the F-16V is increasingly popular and countries must pay Taiwan a percentage in royalties when they purchase new F-16V aircraft or upgrade older F-16 models. The next five years are expected to be the peak for these royalties, with Taiwan potentially earning
STAY IN YOUR LANE: As the US and Israel attack Iran, the ministry has warned China not to overstep by including Taiwanese citizens in its evacuation orders The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday rebuked a statement by China’s embassy in Israel that it would evacuate Taiwanese holders of Chinese travel documents from Israel amid the latter’s escalating conflict with Iran. Tensions have risen across the Middle East in the wake of US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran beginning Saturday. China subsequently issued an evacuation notice for its citizens. In a news release, the Chinese embassy in Israel said holders of “Taiwan compatriot permits (台胞證)” issued to Taiwanese nationals by Chinese authorities for travel to China — could register for evacuation to Egypt. In Taipei, the ministry yesterday said Taiwan
‘LIKE-MINDED PARTNER’: Tako van Popta said it would be inappropriate to delay signing the deal with Taiwan because of China, adding he would promote the issue Canadian senators have stressed Taiwan’s importance for international trade and expressed enthusiasm for ensuring the Taiwan-Canada trade cooperation framework agreement is implemented this year. Representative to Canada Harry Tseng (曾厚仁) in an interview with the Central News Agency (CNA) said he was increasingly uneasy about Ottawa’s delays in signing the agreement, especially as Ottawa has warmed toward Beijing. There are “no negotiations left. Not only [is it] initialed, we have three versions of the text ready: English, French and Mandarin,” Tseng said. “That tells you how close we are to the final signature.” Tseng said that he hoped Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney
The US’ joint strikes with Israel on Iran dismantled a key pillar of China’s regional strategy, removing an important piece in Beijing’s potential Taiwan Strait scenario, said Zineb Riboua, a senior researcher at the Hudson Institute’s Center for Middle East Peace and Security. In an article titled: “The Iran Question Is All About China,” Riboua said that understanding the Iran issue in the context of China’s “grand strategy” is essential to fully grasp the complexity of the situation. Beijing has spent billions of dollars over the years turning Iran into a “structural strategic asset,” diverting US military resources in the
RSS