Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te shakes hands with King Mswati III, the King of Eswatini, at Mandvulo Grand Hall near Manzini, Eswatini, May 2, 2026. Taiwan Presidential Office. Image @ Handout via REUTERS
Brushing aside Chinese pressure that had already derailed an earlier attempt to reach Africa, Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te arrived in Eswatini on Saturday on an unannounced trip — and wasted no time delivering a pointed message to Beijing: no country has the authority to isolate Taiwan from the world.
“The Republic of China, Taiwan, is a sovereign nation and a Taiwan that belongs to the world,” Lai told King Mswati III, using Taiwan’s official name in remarks released by the presidential office. “The 23 million people of Taiwan have the right to engage with the world, and no country has the right — nor should any country attempt — to prevent Taiwan from contributing to the world.”
The visit, timed to mark the 40th anniversary of King Mswati III’s accession, was kept under wraps by both governments until Lai had already touched down, having flown aboard an Eswatini government aircraft. A senior Taiwan security official, speaking anonymously given the sensitivity of the matter, said the “arrive then announce” approach is standard practice in high-stakes diplomacy, designed to minimise what he described as “uncertain risks of potential interference from external forces.”
Taiwan President Lai Ching-te walks with Eswatini Prime Minister Russell Mmiso Dlamini upon arriving in Eswatini, May 2, 2026. Taiwan Presidential Office. Image @ Handout via REUTERS
Those risks are not hypothetical. Last month, Taiwan alleged that Beijing had pressured three Indian Ocean nations into withdrawing overflight permissions for Lai’s aircraft, forcing the cancellation of the trip. The move drew sharp criticism from Washington and expressions of concern from the European Union, Britain, France and Germany.
Eswatini — the small southern African kingdom of roughly 1.3 million people, formerly known as Swaziland — is one of only 12 countries that maintain formal diplomatic relations with Taipei. China, which claims democratically governed Taiwan as part of its territory and denies it any right to state-to-state relations, has relentlessly pressured the remaining holdouts to switch allegiance to Beijing, a position Taipei firmly rejects.
Beijing’s reaction to the visit was swift and caustic. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office accused Lai of having “skulked” his way to Eswatini. “Lai Ching-te’s despicable conduct — like a rat scurrying across the street — will inevitably be met with ridicule by the international community,” a spokesperson said in a statement issued late Saturday.
Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council, the body responsible for cross-strait policy, was equally blunt in its dismissal. Lai needed no permission from Beijing to travel anywhere, the council said, and it took direct aim at the tone of China’s statement, calling the Taiwan Affairs Office’s language “fishwife’s gutter talk” that was “boring in the extreme.”
By: Andrews Kwesi Yeboah