Siphiwe Dlamini
China’s Foreign Ministry on Wednesday urged Eswatini, the only African country maintaining formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan, to reconsider its stance and align with global trends. The call comes as Eswatini remains notably absent from the ongoing 2024 Summit of the Forum of China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), which is currently being hosted in Beijing.
Eswatini’s absence is significant, as the summit has gathered representatives from 53 African nations alongside other regional and international organizations. The key agenda for the summit includes adopting a three-year action plan aimed at enhancing cooperation between China and Africa on issues such as global governance, security, trade, and investment.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning addressed the media during a briefing, commenting on Eswatini’s continued diplomatic engagement with Taiwan.
“It is not in Eswatini’s interest to develop official diplomatic relations with the Taiwan region,”
Mao Ning stated.
China’s stance on Taiwan remains clear. Beijing views Taiwan as a breakaway province and does not recognize its authority to engage in official diplomatic relations with other sovereign nations. This has been a central point in China’s foreign policy, particularly in relation to countries like Eswatini, which defies this position by maintaining ties with Taipei.
The summit is a critical platform for strengthening Sino-African relations, and Eswatini’s absence raises questions about how its diplomatic ties with Taiwan may impact its broader relationship with China and other African nations moving forward. China’s message appears to emphasize the economic and diplomatic advantages that could be gained from re-aligning with Beijing’s policies.
Beyond the summit’s discussions, the press conference also touched on an unrelated but notable development involving an individual with ties to the United States. During the same media briefing, Mao Ning was asked about a report concerning the arrest of Linda Sun, a former aide to a New York governor, who has been charged with acting as an undisclosed agent of China.
Mao responded that she had no knowledge of the incident:
“I am not aware of the report that a former New York governor’s aide has been charged with acting as an undisclosed agent of Beijing,”
she said during the briefing.
Linda Sun, along with her husband, was arrested earlier this week at their Long Island home. According to prosecutors, Sun allegedly engaged in various activities on behalf of Beijing, including obstructing Taiwanese government officials from accessing key figures in New York and influencing local governmental messaging to align more closely with China’s interests.
This arrest forms part of a broader conversation about the international reach of China’s influence, particularly in diplomatic and political arenas outside its borders. The charges against Sun highlight ongoing concerns about China’s global influence operations, especially in countries with significant diplomatic or economic ties to Beijing.
The arrest adds a further dimension to China’s international relations, coinciding with discussions at the FOCAC summit about deepening partnerships with African nations, which are increasingly important in the global geopolitical landscape. China’s message to Eswatini reflects a broader strategy of isolating Taiwan on the world stage, while the arrest of Sun underscores the complexity of China’s international engagements.
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