A Chinese policy to give tariff-free treatment to goods from all African nations except for Eswatini, which formally recognizes Taiwan, would not have much of an economic impact on the African kingdom, a Taiwanese official said yesterday.
During a legislative hearing, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Chen Ming-chi (陳明祺) said the tariff-free policy should have a “minimal, almost negligible” economic effect on the African ally.
Chen said that Beijing’s decision to provide full tariff-free treatment to 53 African countries other than Eswatini starting next month could have a “psychological impact” on the country.
Photo: Tien Yu-hua, Taipei Times
President William Lai (賴清德) is traveling to the kingdom next week to show Taiwan’s support and demonstrate how Taiwan can help Eswatini develop its economy, Chen said.
Chen gave his assessment when asked by Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chen Chun-yu (陳俊宇) to comment on China’s new trade policy, which excludes Taiwan’s only diplomatic ally on the African continent.
The policy would have little impact on Eswatini because Africa has a large trade deficit with China, with China primarily importing raw materials from the continent, Chen Ming-chi said.
China’s exports to Africa are mostly manufactured goods that help Beijing address its domestic industrial overcapacity, he said.
Taiwan would continue to help Eswatini develop its economy, including by importing more of its products and promoting them across the African continent, he said.
Total trade between China and Africa surged to a record US$348.05 billion last year, a 17.7 percent annual increase, underscoring Beijing’s focus on emerging markets amid US tariffs, a report published in January by Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University’s Centre for African Studies said.
The surge was accompanied by a 64.5 percent increase in Africa’s trade deficit with China to US$102.01 billion, the report said.
“This widening gap has sparked concerns among some observers that the continent is becoming a dumping ground for cheap Chinese goods, potentially undermining the industrialization ambitions of African nations,” the report said.
Bilateral trade between Taiwan and Eswatini totals about US$8 million annually. The two countries have an economic cooperation agreement that has been in effect since 2018.
Eswatini’s main exports to Taiwan include ethyl alcohol, sauces, grapefruit, machine parts, cotton yarn and metal jewelry, while Taiwan’s main exports to Eswatini consist of rice, printing machinery, filament yarn, dyeing machines, slide fasteners and garments.
The Presidential Office on Monday announced that Lai would visit Eswatini from Wednesday next week to April 27, mainly to attend celebrations for the 40th anniversary of King Mswati III’s accession to the throne and his 58th birthday.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
BREACH OF CONTRACT: The bus operators would seek compensation and have demanded that the manufacturer replace the chips with ones that meet regulations Two bus operators found to be using buses with China-made chips are to demand that the original manufacturers replace the systems and provide compensation for breach of contract, the Veterans Affairs Council said yesterday. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) yesterday said that Da Nan Bus Co and Shin-Shin Bus Co Ltd have fielded a total of 82 buses that are using Chinese chips. The bus models were made by Tron-E, while the systems provider was CYE Electronics, Lin said. Lin alleged that the buses were using chips manufactured by Huawei subsidiary HiSilicon Co, which presents a national security risk if the
The National Immigration Agency has banned two Chinese from returning to Taiwan, after they published social media content it described as disrespectful to national sovereignty. The agency imposed a two-month ban on a Chinese man surnamed Liang (梁) and a permanent ban on a woman surnamed Yang (楊), an influencer with 23 million followers, in October last year and last week respectively. Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) yesterday said on the sidelines of a legislative meeting that Chinese visitors to Taiwan are required to comply with the rules and regulations governing their entry permits. The government has handled the ban and
RSS