BY PHUMELELE MKHONTA
MBABANE- His Majesty King Mswati III has Taiwan’s best interest at heart.
The Eswatini Head of State showed this yesterday at the 77th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA77) during his address where he appealed for the Republic of China (Taiwan) to participate in United Nations (UN) Agencies.
The King’s address was yesterday at the UN Headquarters at New York in the United States, during the second day of the general debate which other world leaders, including US President Joe Biden, made their presentations.
“When the world faced the COVID pandemic, it must be noted that no country was spared, which means we all needed to come together to find solutions.
“Unfortunately, Taiwan was unable to access some of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) programmes and thus implement the remedies that required their approval,” said His Majesty King Mswati III.
The Eswatini Head of State then went on to say they continued to appeal for Taiwan to be considered for full participation in the UN agencies.
“We are confident that the global village would benefit substantially from Taiwan’s meaningful participation in the UN system. The Kingdom of Eswatini calls upon the United Nations to make the necessary arrangements for Taiwan to significantly participate in relevant UN specialised agencies and mechanisms,” he said.
Taiwan has strong bilateral relationship with Eswatini and both countries have invested in each other.
Taiwan continues to immensely contribute in the education and health sectors in the country. During the commencement of the COVID-19 crisis in the year 2020, the above mentioned country sent their healthcare workers to assist in the intensive care unit (ICU) at Lubombo Referral. They also provided medical equipment at personal protective equipment (PPEs) in the country.
Worth noting is that currently, the Republic of China (Taiwan), also simply referred to as Taiwan, is not recognized by the United Nations.
According to Quora.com, this is because under the ‘One China Policy’ and the Sino communique, countries and organizations can only recognize China or Taiwan, following a civil war.
