Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen launched a four-day visit to Eswatini, one of the island’s 13 surviving allies, on Tuesday.
Tsai, who is in her final year as president, is visiting the southern African country of 1.1 million people and oversaw the signing of accords that would set “the milestones for our future relationship,” she said.
Since Tsai’s election in 2016, China has increased pressure on countries with diplomatic ties to Taiwan to move their formal recognition from Taiwan to China.
Beijing has effectively abducted 9 countries, leaving Taiwan with only 13 countries that recognize its independence.
Taiwan’s most recent diplomatic loss was Honduras, which switched recognition to Beijing in March.
Taiwan is a self-ruled island claimed by China.
The two sides have been at odds since 1949 when the Communist Party won in the civil war against the Nationalists.
Eswatini is an absolute monarchy, and most of the country’s population live below the poverty line.
It was rocked by pro-democracy protests in 2021, but those protests were put down violently, per reports.
Tsai is expected to stay in the tiny landlocked kingdom until Thursday to mark the 55th anniversary of its independence, as well as 55 years of bilateral relations.