Taiwan president to visit Eswatini, spotlighting shrinking diplomatic ties

Taiwan’s president is preparing to travel to Eswatini, elevating one of Taipei’s smallest remaining alliances into a test of diplomatic endurance. The visit will carry both ceremony and strategy: a chance to stand beside King Mswati III for his 40th anniversary on the throne and his 58th birthday, while signaling that Taiwan still intends to keep its few formal partners close.

Eswatini is Taiwan’s only remaining diplomatic ally in Africa, and one of just 12 countries worldwide that still maintain formal ties with Taipei. The relationship dates to September 16, 1968, shortly after Eswatini’s independence, and has outlasted decades of pressure from Beijing, which insists Taiwan is part of China and rejects state-to-state relations. For Taipei, the fact that a monarchic kingdom of this size still recognizes it carries outsized symbolic weight.

The trip also follows a deliberate pattern of high-level engagement. In May 2024, Lai Ching-te and Mswati III held bilateral talks and witnessed the signing of three documents, including a joint statement. Taiwan’s foreign ministry marked that year as the 56th anniversary of diplomatic relations and said the two sides work together in education, agriculture, medicine, public health, information and communications technology, and women’s empowerment. In February 2025, Lai met Eswatini Deputy Prime Minister Thulisile Dladla and thanked the kingdom for continuing to back Taiwan’s international participation. In November 2025, he met an Eswatini parliamentary delegation led by House of Assembly Speaker Jabulani Mabuza.

The relationship has also been sustained through personal diplomacy. In February 2021, King Mswati III publicly thanked Taiwan after receiving antiviral medication sent by the Taiwanese government to help treat COVID-19. Taiwan’s embassy in Mbabane says its work also extends to Mozambique, and its official calendar tracks Eswatini’s royal dates, including April 19 for the king’s birthday and April 25 for Flag Day, a sign of how closely the mission follows the kingdom’s political rhythms.

Lai’s journey will be his first trip outside Taiwan since November 2024, when he visited the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu and Palau and transited through Hawaii and Guam. This time, Taiwan is avoiding a U.S. layover, since direct travel to Eswatini does not require one and transits through the United States on visits to Latin America have repeatedly drawn Beijing’s anger. The itinerary reflects the constraint Taiwan now faces and the improvisation it has learned to practice: preserve every remaining ally, turn symbolism into working ties, and keep a fragile diplomatic network from narrowing any further.