How USA, Eswatini share a common goal
MBABANE – Eswatini and USA share a common goal. They have similar attitudes towards the People’s Republic of China’s policy on Taiwan.
There is tension between Beijing and Washington, fuelled by Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan this week. In the same way China viewed His Majesty King Mswati III’s call for United Nations (UN) recognition of Taiwan as a provocation that warranted a visa ban for emaSwati travelling to that country, Beijing also reacted to the USA’s diplomatic goading.
Beijing complained about Eswatini’s violation of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) Resolution 2758 of 1971. On Oct 25, 1971, the UNGA passed the resolution recognising the representatives of the government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the only lawful representatives of China to the UN.
On Wednesday, the United Nations reiterated its support for the one-China principle, noting that it was following the UNGA Resolution 2758 of 1971. “Our position is very clear. We abide by General Assembly resolutions, by the one-China policy, and that is the orientation that we have in everything we do,” UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said in a briefing.
In reaction to Eswatini’s continued support of Taiwan during UN General Assembly, PRC introduced new visa application procedure for emaSwati. All along a China tourist visa was required for emaSwati and their stay was usually a period of 30 days. The visa was business-friendly as it expired after 90 days and there were no requirements to be present when applying for the visa.
PRC effected some changes as emaSwati were required to travel to Pretoria to apply for the visa.
Tensions escalated between the US and China, after Beijing conducted military exercises in certain areas around Taiwan this week.
It warned airlines operating in Asia to avoid flying in areas around the island where it was conducting military exercises in response to the speaker’s visit.
Eswatini is the only African country or affiliate of the African Union which has diplomatic relations with the island. On the other hand, the United States of America is seen as Taiwan’s primary guarantor of security.
At present, Taiwan is the keystone of the electronics supply chain and perhaps the world’s most importance source of advanced microships.
Political observers said the common goal towards China would basically strengthen ties between USA and Eswatini. They said the absence of a PRC Embassy in Eswatini worked well for the USA as China was actually competing with them for supremacy. The two technologically advanced countries are strengthening their relations with Africa.
In the fiscal year 2020, USAID and the US Department of State provided E136 billion (US$8.5 billion) of assistance to 47 countries and eight regional programmes in sub-Saharan
Africa.
China has invested extensively in Africa, with East African countries having borrowed E464 billion (US$29 billion) from Beijing for various projects.
ESWATINI GOVT REACTS
Alpheous Nxumalo, the Government Press Secretary, said Eswatini would stick to its motto: “We are an enemy to none.” Nxumalo said the country was a friend to all, and was non-aligned. “We are friends to all countries of the world,” he insisted.
The government press secretary said Eswatini’s relations with Taiwan were as old as the country’s independence. He mentioned that the bonds between the two countries had withstood the test of time.
On the other dimension, he said the kingdom’s relations with the USA were very strong, progressive and firm. He described the country’s relationships with the US as unshakable.
He said the relation was based on mutual respect for their differences in some areas yet beneficial in many fundamental ways to each other.
Nxumalo also pointed to the fact that the country’s relations with the PRC might not be on diplomatic terms; but on business and commercial terms as emaSwati trade freely with PRC. He said Eswatini would continue to promote global peace. As a result, the government press secretary believed that the PRC would someday recognise Taiwan’s sovereignty.
He said the country did not condone threats or intimidation. Nxumalo is looking forward to an amicable solution between PRC and Taiwan on all matters which might bring stability between the two countries.
Meanwhile, the New York Times reported that politicians from Taiwan’s two main political parties have offered support to Speaker Pelosi’s trip, a sentiment echoed by many in the self-ruled democracy of more than 23 million people, which China claiming as its own. While China released videos of planes and missiles flying to menacing music, one popular meme in Taiwan remade Pelosi as a powerful Taoist goddess.
According to the New York Times, a Taiwanese politician wagered a chicken cutlet giveaway over her visit. Inured to living in one of the world’s most dangerous geopolitical flash points, Taiwanese people have largely taken the prospect of the visit in stride.
That steely nonchalance belies a political reality that has been hardening over the past decade: Many in Taiwan have grown weary of China’s threats and crave support from the United States. As a result, the US speaker’s trip was the highest-level visit by an American official in 25 years, and a diplomatic coup, if not a symbolic one, for Taiwan.
Such prominent demonstrations of international support are rare for Taiwan, which Beijing has systematically worked to isolate from global institutions and diplomatic recognition.
The talk of a visit has not been without its anxieties for Taiwan. On Tuesday morning, its military said it would strengthen combat readiness in anticipation of a potential response from China, while the island’s stock market fell almost two per cent over geopolitical concerns about the trip that broadly dragged down global shares, according to the New York Times.
President Tsai Ing-wen of Taiwan has tread carefully into the fraught political moment. She has made no public comment about the trip, probably to avoid exacerbating an already tense situation. Known as a cautious and pragmatic operator, Tsai, who visited Eswatini in 2018, decided to let others speak out instead. Some
Eswatini is the only African country or affiliate of the AU which has diplomatic relations with the island. On the other hand, the USA is seen as Taiwan’s primary guarantor of security.”
support has come from unexpected corners. Two stalwarts of the generally China-friendly Kuomintang party, former President Ma Ying-jeou and the party Chairman Eric Chu, cautiously welcomed Pelosi’s visit.
With local elections looming, politicians in Tsai’s party spoke more freely. Kolas Yotaka, a former Democratic Progressive Party legislator and candidate for magistrate in Hualien County, said the decision of whether to make the trip was Pelosi’s and that most Taiwanese supported the visit. China warned airlines operating in Asia to avoid flying in areas around Taiwan, where it was conducting military exercises in response to the speaker’s visit.
An official notice sent late on Tuesday Hong Kong time designated six areas of airspace as ‘danger zones’, according to carriers who received the message and Jang Chang Seog, a Korean Transport Ministry Official.
Pelosi flew to Taipei as the highest-ranking American politician to visit Taiwan in 25 years, prompting China to condemn the visit and unveil a series of economic and military responses. China considers the island, a vibrant democracy and a key supplier of semiconductors, as part of the country. Taiwan remains the most sensitive issue between the US and China, with the potential to one day spark a military conflict.
According to France24, Taiwan’s army held another live-fire drill on Thursday after Beijing ended its largest-ever military exercises around the island and repeated threats to bring the self-ruled democracy under its control. Beijing has raged at a trip to Taiwan last week by the speaker - staging days of air and sea drills around the island that raised tensions to their highest level in years. Taiwan has accused China of using the Pelosi visit as an excuse to kickstart drills that would allow it to rehearse for an invasion.
TAIWAN IN DEFENCE MODE
Lou Woei-jye, Spokesman for Taiwan’s Eighth Army Corps, told AFP its forces fired howitzers and target flares as part of the defensive drill on Thursday morning. The exercise in Taiwan’s southernmost county Pingtung lasted about an hour. Artillery trucked in from the coast was lined up side by side, with armed soldiers in units firing the howitzers out to sea one after the other, a livestream showed.
Taiwan held a similar drill on Tuesday in Pingtung. Both involved hundreds of troops, the military said.
The military has played down the exercises’ significance, saying they were already scheduled and were not in response to China’s war games.
“We have two goals for the drills, the first is to certify the proper condition of the artillery and their maintenance condition and the second is to confirm the results of last year,” Lou said, referring to annual drills.
PREPARE FOR WAR - CHINA
The latest exercise came after China’s military indicated its own drills had come to an end on Wednesday, saying its forces ‘successfully completed various tasks’ in the Taiwan Strait while vowing to continue patrolling its waters. But in the same announcement, China added that it would ‘continue to carry out military training and prepare for war’.
In a separate white paper published on Wednesday, China’s Taiwan Affairs Office said Beijing would ‘not renounce the use of force’ against its neighbour and reserved ‘the option of taking all necessary measures’ . “We are ready to create vast space for peaceful reunification, but we will leave no room for separatist activities in any form,” it said in the paper.
China last issued a white paper on Taiwan in 2000.
Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry on Thursday joined its top policymaking body on China in rejecting the ‘one country, two systems’ model that Beijing has proposed for the island. “China’s whole statement absolutely goes against the cross-strait status quo and its reality,” ministry Spokesperson Joanne Ou told a press conference.
“China is using US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit as an excuse to destroy the status quo and taking the opportunity to make trouble, attempting to create a new normal to intimidate the Taiwanese people.”
One country, two systems refers to the model under which Hong Kong and Macau were promised a degree of autonomy under Chinese rule. Taiwan routinely stages military drills simulating defence against a Chinese invasion, and last month practised repelling attacks from the sea in a ‘joint interception operation’ as part of its largest annual exercises.