Today is a public holiday in South Africa – Human Rights Day. There’s a certain irony in spending the day focusing on China’s President Xi Jinping’s visit to Vladimir Putin, knee-deep in a human rights disaster.
What one makes of the Ukraine crisis increasingly maps on where one lives. This is made clear by a remarkable new set of polling data recently published by the European Council on Foreign Relations ...
Country: Swaziland
eSwatini PM Visits Taiwan, Reaffirms Diplomatic Support
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen welcomed eSwatini Prime Minister Cleopas Sipho Dlamini during an official visit to Taipei. The prime minister expressed the Kingdom's support for Taiwan's admission to the United Nations and criticized China's efforts to coerce the island through "any ...
eSwatini Could Soon Be in Play
Troops are out on the streets of the tiny southern African kingdom of eSwatini in an effort to quell anti-monarchy protests that look like they could precipitate the fall of King Mswati III. The precise whereabouts of the King are unknown at ...
China’s COVID Donations Go to 53, Not All 54 African Countries
Chinese diplomats and state-run media outlets used to highlight how COVID-19 donations were sent to all 54 African countries across the continent. Recently, though, both Xinhua and the likes of senior diplomat Wu Peng have ...
China Turns up the Pressure on Eswatini to Abandon Taiwan
The tiny landlocked kingdom of Eswatini, formerly known as Swaziland, is now the last country in Africa to maintain diplomatic relations with Taiwan. This is a very big sticking point for the Chinese who are adamant about isolating Taiwan in Africa ...
Tweet of the Day: 2020 is Likely Going to be the Year When the Tiny Kingdom of eSwatini Becomes a Big International Relations Issue
eSwatini, formerly known as Swaziland, is not a country that often registers as an important player in major global disputes but from the looks of it that may change in 2020. The Kingdom is now the last country in Africa that formally recognizes Taiwan and that has ...
Analysis from Cobus van Staden
Xi Bets on Global South in Moscow
China’s Pressure Campaign on eSwatini Highlights an Extreme Contrast in State Power
This month's report by journalist Carien Du Plessis in South Africa' Daily Maverick newspaper about heightened Chinese pressure on eSwatini, the last remaining country in Africa to recognize Taiwan, is ...