Eswatini is one of the few countries in the world that formally recognizes the Republic of China. But Beijing doesn’t want Taipei to enjoy any diplomatic ties with anybody and so works incessantly to destroy such ties. A few months ago, the PRC managed to prevent ROC President Lai Ching-te from traveling to Eswatini—by pressuring a few governments to deny overflight permission to Lai’s plane. But the success was temporary.
Lai waited a little while, traveled to Eswatini anyway (though more secretly now), had his meetings, and upon returning home said: “Taiwanese people have the right to engage with the world. We will not retreat in the face of suppression.”
Crime
China’s latest manifestation of disapproval is to urge Chinese citizens residing in Eswatini to get out of the country. Security concerns are the alleged problem, including “rampant cyber fraud and online gambling criminal activities.”
China says: “Those who insist on travelling to or remaining in the area will face extremely high security risks, and the timeliness of receiving consular assistance may be affected.”
Eswatini’s street crime and online crime are not so exceptional as to warrant picking on Eswatini solely for this reason. The real problem, obviously, is that the Eswatini government has not yet submitted to CCP pressure to withdraw its recognition of the ROC.
Bloomberg reports (August 27, 2026):
In Taipei, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs denounced China’s action, describing it as a deliberate effort to undermine Taiwan’s historical friendship with the African country. It called on the international community to recognize “the egregious nature of China’s authoritarian intimidation.”
Located in the southeast corner of Africa, Eswatini is about the size of the US state of New Jersey with a population of just 1.2 million people.
Two Chinese nationals were fined for running an illegal online gambling operation there and face the possibility of imprisonment if those charges are not paid, the Times of Eswatini has reported. A similar case was reported by Chinese publication Caixin in March.
While cybercrime has been on the rise, the kingdom is generally far safer than neighboring South Africa, which has one of the world’s worst murder rates. South Africa has the second-highest criminality score in Africa, according to rankings from EU-backed Enact.
Meanwhile, Eswatini ranks 45th.
Africa News: “Eswatini arrested at least 55 Chinese citizens this year in a crackdown on an alleged online gambling, extortion and cyber-fraud network.”
Perhaps someone will explain to Chinese officials that Chinese nationals who commit online crime while in Eswatini can also commit online crime elsewhere if, accepting the Chinese government’s counsel, they leave Eswatini in order to save themselves from the online crime of Eswatini.
