MBABANE: Jeremy Liang, the Ambassador of the Republic of China on Taiwan donated rice worth R8million to the National Disaster Management Agency(NDMA) in a country where about 70% of the population lives below the poverty line.
The donation was handed over to Deputy Prime Minister(DPM) Thulisile Dladla on Thursday.
On another note,His Excellency Chen Xiaodong,the Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China(PRC) says the diplomatic relations between China and South Africa resulted to trade worth over $57billion.
The Ambassador was speaking during the 25th Anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and South Africa at the Chinese Embassy in Pretoria on Tuesday.
Reached for comments,Brian Sangweni, the Spokesperson of eSwatini’s main political party,the People’s United Democratic Movement(PUDEMO) said, as an organization, they respect the adopted United Nations Resolution 2758 that endorsed the one China principle.
“We have seen the Mainland China investing billions in infrastructure development in other African countries so we are better with China than Taiwan.We don’t need rice and beans but we need economic development so that we can feed ourselves”, said the PUDEMO Spokesperson.
Eswatini is facing a health crisis and the education system is collapsing,the World Bank reported in 2021 that,the unemployment rate has escalated to 33.3%.
Taiwan donates rice in eSwatini while China invests billions in South Africa and other African countries in infrastructure to create jobs and enhance Foreign Direct Investments(FDIs).