Mswati III

Eswatini Donation Continues Taiwan’s Backing of Authoritarian Monarchy

Brian Hioe
The Tsai administration announced a donation of 637 million NT to Eswatini last week. The donation is earmarked for a fund for reconstruction work in Eswatini that will take place under the auspices of King Mswati III, following some of the largest protests to take place in Eswatini in its 53 years of independence. The donation was the largest contribution to the fund, with other donations coming from state-operated enterprises in Eswatini and the military...
EnglishPoliticsSeptember 20216 min read

Pro-Democracy Protests in Eswatini Reminiscent of Taiwan’s Past, Despite Taiwan’s Support of Government

Brian Hioe
Demonstrations that have rocked Eswatini in past days are among the largest protests to take place in the African country in its 53 years of independence. That being said, they have scarcely been commented on in Taiwan, despite that Eswatini is one of Taiwan’s few remaining diplomatic countries—and despite the fact that such protests have strong parallels to Taiwan’s history of democratization...
EnglishJuly 2021Politics7 min read

Talk Of ‘Africa Plan’ Not Likely To Prove Any More Successful Than New Southbound Policy

Brian Hioe
Following a five-day state visit to Swaziland by Tsai Ing-Wen last week, Tsai has called for creation of an “Africa plan” to develop stronger economic and political ties between Taiwan and Africa. One suspects that, much like the Tsai administration’s “New Southbound Policy”, this would also be with the aim of weaning Taiwan off of economic dependency on China. But one generally suspects that this would encounter many of the same challenges that the New Southbound Policy has. Furthermore, one must keep in mind that, like many of Taiwan's diplomatic allies, Swaziland is a country whose government has a questionable human rights record...
April 2018EnglishPolitics5 min read