By Zweli Martin Dlamini

MBABANE:China\'s military aircraft have been detected in the Taiwan airspace ahead of President elect William Lai Ching-te inauguration, international news agencies including Reuters have reported.

It has been reported that, the Taiwan military has already detected forty-five(45) Chinese military aircraft in the Taiwan airspace.

The reports come as King Mswati of eSwatini prepares to fly to Taiwan on Friday,to attend the inauguration that will take place next week on the 20th May 2024 and,it remains to be seen if he will land safely in the island amid the ongoing military operation.

On Wednesday, this Swaziland News quoting sources, reported that the King has been warned against traveling to Taiwan for the President elect inauguration.

Eswatini continues to undermine China’s Sovereignty by recognizing the Chinese Taiwan province as a country in complete violation of the United Nations(UN) Resolution 2758 of 1971.

Before the military operation commenced, sources told this publication that,China is not happy with eSwatini’s recognition of Taiwan as a country.

When asked to specify if the military operations will be conducted specifically to prevent the King from visiting Taiwan, the source said, the matter remains sensitive and nobody knows what might happen.

“What I can say is that China is not happy and feels eSwatini is undermining its Sovereignty by recognizing Taiwan as a country, so you may never know what will happen should the King fly to Taiwan”, added the source.

Reached for comments on Wednesday,King’s Spokesperson Percy Simelane said, eSwatini is a Sovereign State and the King has a right to choose which country to visit.

The King’s Spokesperson then urged China to use the United Nations(UN) Protocol on the engagement of Nations if there’s a grievance against the King’s intended visit to Taiwan.

“We are not aware of the alleged concerns by China.Having said that, we wish to state that Eswatini is a Sovereign State with a heart and soul of its own.While it is open to advice from all the countries of the world it shall not take orders from  anyone of them.Like all countries of the world, Eswatini has a Sovereign right to choice; by extension the King has a right to choose which country to visit at a point in time as head of a free country.We would have expected China to follow UN Protocols on engagement of Nations with issues between them, particularly the Viena Convention if indeed it has pronounced itself on the visit in question by the King,” said the King’s Spokesperson.

On another note, Mlungisi Makhanya, the President of the People’s United Democratic Movement(PUDEMO) said, the King’s intended trip to the Chinese province-Taiwan “is a grave insult to the people” of eSwatini and an assault to the Chinese Nation as represented by their unitary state;the People’s Republic of China(PRC).

“It is a grave insult to emaSwati because it takes away much needed national resources that would be financing purchasing of medical drugs to finance frivolous things.It is an assault on the PRC and the Chinese nation because it undermines their efforts to attain peaceful national reunification and the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.It is an affront to the one-China principle,and a great provocation to the People’s Republic of China.It is contemptuous to the global consensus position because the world, as represented by the United Nations, is working very hard to ensure that aspirations of separatists and secessionist who are hell bent on dividing united people don’t succeed.The global consensus position is very clear, the people of China cross-Taiwanese Straits are one, and all Chinese people whose legitimate state authority is the PRC.That is the realization the world for, Only notoriously rogue states who are threatened by China’s growing economic, political and military global influence are clandestinely working to undermine this world effort. At the center of this is the ill conceived China containment policy of the United States of America,”said the PUDEMO President.