BEJING/TAIPEI: China said on Wednesday (May 6) Eswatini’s leaders were being “kept and fed” by Taiwan, using unusually strong language to condemn the small southern African kingdom for hosting President Lai Ching-te.
China and Taiwan have long traded accusations of “dollar diplomacy” to win support from developing countries.
Beijing’s latest criticism came after Lai returned home on Tuesday from a surprise trip to the former Swaziland, one of just 12 countries with formal diplomatic ties to the democratically governed island claimed by China.
Beijing views Lai as a “separatist” and has demanded that other countries refuse to deal with his government or host him.
Lai’s government said China had forced three Indian Ocean nations – the Seychelles, Mauritius and Madagascar – to deny overflight permission for his aircraft when he first planned to go last month for celebrations of the 40th anniversary of the accession to the throne of King Mswati III.
Lai had “stowed away” to get to Eswatini, said Lin Jian, a spokesperson of China’s foreign ministry.
This showed that “separatist” activities were rejected by the international community and were a “scandal and a farce”, he told reporters in Beijing.
“Some politicians in Eswatini, kept and fed by Taiwan, have provided space for Taiwan independence forces – this runs counter to the tide of history, and China strongly condemns it,” Lin added, using a derogatory expression used to refer to a person being kept in servitude to another or used as a lackey.
