By Zweli Martin Dlamini

His Excellency Jeremy Liang, the Taiwan Ambassador was quoted by the ‘State’ owned Eswatini Observer on Wednesday speaking a lot of nonsense, accusing China of supporting political activists in plotting another unrest.

Well,before we even speak about China,the Taiwan Ambassador must first account for the helicopters that his country donated to King Mswati’s army,those helicopters were used to kill innocent civilians during the political unrest.

Furthermore, the Ambassador must account for the bags of rice that were used to influence the recent Tinkhundla elections, the Ambassador used rice to campaign for certain aspiring Members of Parliament(MPs), last week he was at Manzini South to distribute rice with Education Minister Owen Nxumalo.

Now, the Ambassador is accusing the Mainland China of secretly supporting political parties after senior members of Sive Siyinqaba, the Swaziland Democratic Party(SWADEPA) and the People’s United Democratic Movement(PUDEMO)visited the Mainland China.

Even if it’s true that China is supporting the calls for democracy in this country, is that different from what Taiwan is doing in supporting the oppressive Tinkhundla system, by taking advantage of the poor emaSwati and distribute rice with intend to manipulate the right to vote?.

Taiwan is deep rooted in our politics and the administration of our country, sometimes the Ambassador calls Cabinet Ministers to influence decisions, the distribution of rice at Manzini South was a disguised State capture strategy.

Who told Taiwan Ambassador Jeremy Liang that as emaSwati, we want to be beggars, this country is dominated by skilled graduates who want jobs and business opportunities.

China wants to establish diplomatic relations with eSwatini so that emaSwati could benefit through the creation of jobs, China is known for infrastructure development and this contributes to economic development by enhancing the Ease of Doing Business to attract Foreign Direct Investment(FDI).

Taiwan is interfering in our political affairs but wants China not to meet political activists, Ambassador Jeremy Liang went as far as disseminating propaganda just to discredit China.

The truth is; emaSwati are benefiting nothing from Taiwan, we want jobs and business opportunities here not rice Your Excellency!