Taiwan is a “trusted and capable” partner of the United States and Taipei’s global relationships, including with Eswatini, provide significant benefits, the U.S. State Department said of President Lai Ching-te’s trip to the southern African kingdom.
– Lai arrived in the former Swaziland on Saturday on a surprise visit after his government blamed Chinese pressure for nixing an earlier trip planned for last month by getting three Indian Ocean states to deny overflight permission for his aircraft.
– China views democratically governed Taiwan as part of its territory with no right to state-to-state ties, a position Taiwan’s government strongly disputes, and Beijing has demanded countries stop any engagements with the island.
– The United States is Taiwan’s most important international backer and arms supplier, to the constant anger of Beijing.
– “Taiwan is a trusted and capable partner of the United States and many others, and its relationships around the world provide significant benefits to the citizens of those countries, including Eswatini,” a State Department spokesperson said.
– Every democratically elected Taiwan president has made overseas trips to visit Taiwan’s diplomatic partners, and Lai’s predecessor Tsai Ing-wen went to Eswatini in 2023 and 2018, the spokesperson added.
– “This travel is routine and should not be politicised.”
– Eswatini, home to around 1.3 million people, is one of just 12 countries with formal diplomatic ties to Taiwan, and the only one in Africa, where China has deep economic relationships.
– “When we go with the spirit of the U.N, which says the U.N. is not going to leave no one behind, there are those who are still left behind – 23 million people of Taiwan still feel that they are left behind,” King Mswati III told a banquet for Lai on Sunday night, in video footage Lai’s office released on Monday.
– Taiwan is not a United Nations member due to China’s objections.
– China has condemned Lai’s trip, which he made on an Eswatini government aircraft, saying he was “like a rat scurrying across the street”.
– Taiwan is “the biggest point of risk” for Sino-U.S. relations, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday, ahead of a summit between the Chinese and U.S. leaders in Beijing later this month.
– Lai says that only the island’s people can decide their future and that Taiwan has a right to engage with the rest of the world.
– Lai had planned his trip to Eswatini for the 40th anniversary of the king’s accession in April.