Beijing and Taiwan’s opposition KMT want to foster cross-strait interdependence but DPP offers only isolation and endless confrontation
3-MIN READ3-MIN ListenAlex LoAlex Lo has been an SCMP columnist since 2012, covering major issues affecting Hong Kong and the rest of China. Published: 5:30am, 25 Apr 2026Another day, another big humiliation for William Lai Ching-te. The Taiwanese leader effectively had to cancel a visit to eSwatini, the island’s last partner in Africa, for the celebrations of the 40th anniversary of King Mswati III’s accession to the throne and his 58th birthday.
Foreign critics sometimes laud eSwatini, previously Swaziland, for its steadfast support of the Taiwanese island since its independence from Britain in 1968. But whatever foreign aid it has been receiving from Taiwan, the mainland can multiply it. Perhaps eSwatini should remember Groucho Marx’s quip about never joining a club that would have him as a member.
Being a select club of just 12 states – many of them with tiny territories and little international influence – that still recognise Taiwan is not exactly a winsome formula for national advancement.
The others are: Belize, Guatemala, Haiti, Paraguay, the Marshall Islands, Palau, Tuvalu, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Vatican City. Many maintain ties with Taiwan only because of pressure from Washington.
