Remarks by Minister Dr. Lin Chia-lung at the Birthday Banquet of H.M. King Mawati III, the Kingdom of Eswztini

Remarks by Minister Dr. Lin Chia-lung at the Birthday Banquet of H.M. King Mawati III, the Kingdom of Eswztini

• Data Source：Department of West Asian and African Affairs
• Date：2025-04-25

Dr. Lin Chia-lung

Minister of Foreign Affairs

Republic of China (Taiwan)

April 25, 2025

(As Prepared for Delivery)

Ladies and gentlemen:

I am honored to have been appointed as special envoy of President Lai Ching-te to visit the Kingdom of Eswatini for Your Majesty's birthday. Despite the distance between Taiwan and Eswatini, our relationship is as close as family. It feels like I have come back to my second home. The warmth of the people of Eswatini is like the African sunshine. It has made a deep impression on me.

Diplomatic relations between our countries began in 1968 when Eswatini regained independence. Our alliance has lasted for 57 years. Taiwan cherishes its friendship with Eswatini. President Tsai Ing-wen visited in September 2023 to attend the 55th double celebrations. Your Majesty also went to Taiwan in May 2024 to attend our presidential inauguration. These exchanges demonstrate the rock-solid bond between our nations.

Of course, Taiwan would not miss Your Majesty's 57th birthday for the world. As special presidential envoy, it is my pleasure to be here to extend my best wishes to Your Majesty.

This is my first trip to Eswatini. It has been exciting to see the progress that your beautiful country is making under Your Majesty's outstanding leadership. Eswatini is not only steadily developing but is also playing an increasingly active role on the international stage. For example, Your Majesty has attended the World Governments Summit as well as the Assembly of African Union Heads of State and Government. Foreign Minister Pholile Shakantu has been elected president of the Bureau of the Council of Ministers of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States. And former Minister of Tourism Moses Vilakati has been appointed as AU Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy, and Sustainable Environment. Your Majesty enjoys high standing and respect among African nations. Thanks to your status, Eswatini is becoming a key player in regional affairs. As one of Eswatini's loyal allies, Taiwan shares your sense of pride.

For over half a century, Taiwan and Eswatini have maintained stable diplomatic ties and have continued to help each other. Your Majesty and the government of Eswatini have given firm and unwavering support to Taiwan's international participation. At the UN General Assembly, Your Majesty has spoken up for Taiwan on many occasions. On behalf of the people and government of Taiwan, I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank Your Majesty, the Queen Mother, and the government and people of Eswatini. I look forward to your ongoing support.

Taiwan is an important development partner for Eswatini. We have continued to contribute to major infrastructure projects and the well-being of Eswatini's people. Two days ago, I had the honor of cohosting the project unveiling ceremony for a strategic oil reserve with Your Majesty. This is the largest cooperation project between our countries since we established diplomatic relations. Taiwan is grateful for Your Majesty and the Eswatini government's strong support for this project. I will continue to push for its successful completion to meet the expectations of Your Majesty and the people of Eswatini.

Since taking office, I have actively promoted the Diplomatic Allies Prosperity Project. We want to integrate Taiwan's industrial advantages with other resources to boost industrial development in Eswatini. Our goal is to make steady progress toward prosperity. Taiwan has enjoyed success in areas such as reliable networks, digital governance, smart medicine, smart healthcare, and smart agriculture. I hope that we can share our experiences with Eswatini to assist its development in these areas. I also look forward to strengthening collaboration on emerging international issues such as carbon credit cooperation and sovereign AI. Working more closely together on these trends would benefit both our nations.

The international spread of disinformation has affected both Taiwan and Eswatini. Last May, President Lai and Your Majesty witnessed the signing of a joint statement, which included measures to combat disinformation. The agreement demonstrated our shared commitment to addressing the problem. During this visit, Minister Shakantu and I have signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation to counter information manipulation and promote information integrity. Taiwan and Eswatini stand together against the threat of disinformation. I am eager to work with Eswatini to tackle this challenge.

In response to Her Majesty the Queen Mother's concern about the economic development of rural women, Taiwan has consistently supported Eswatini's gender empowerment efforts. During President Tsai's visit to Eswatini in September 2023, Taiwan announced a grant of one million US dollars to establish a revolving fund to give low-interest loans to women entrepreneurs. I was pleased to learn that the fund has yielded positive results. It has already awarded over 400 loans that have significantly benefited women entrepreneurs in Eswatini. Today, I am proud to announce that Taiwan will inject an additional 500,000 US dollars into the fund to benefit even more people.

In an ever-changing international situation, we face many challenges and threats to regional peace and stability. Although the global security landscape is unpredictable, I firmly believe that Taiwan and Eswatini will continue to support each other. We will maintain our friendship, work closely together on important issues, and develop a comprehensive partnership to promote stability, progress, and prosperity for both sides.

Today, we are here to celebrate Your Majesty's birthday. On this important occasion, I sincerely wish Your Majesty good health and continued success. May you have many more celebrations to come. The relationship between Taiwan and Eswatini has also stood the test of time. Based on this solid foundation, I look forward to our friendship going from strength to strength as we continue to achieve new milestones.