Jaushieh Joseph Wu
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Republic of China (Taiwan)
October 21, 2022
(As Prepared for Delivery)
Ladies and gentlemen:
Sawubona! Good evening!
It is my great pleasure to host this banquet in honor of the distinguished delegation led by His Majesty King Mswati III. This visit has shown Your Majesty's staunch support for Taiwan and further cemented the friendship between Taiwan and Eswatini.
In April 2018, I was absolutely delighted to accompany President Tsai to attend your Majesty's 50/50 celebration. And it was a great honor for me to attend Your Majesty's 51st birthday celebrations as the Special Envoy of President Tsai in April 2019. During the visit, I received a very warm welcome and the memories of that trip remain so dear to me.
In my office, I even have what we call the Eswatini wall, adorned with all manner of mementos from your beautiful Kingdom. There are also pictures of Your Majesty's last visit to Taiwan in June 2018 on the wall. I believe that during this trip, you will witness bilateral relations between Taiwan and Eswatini reaching even greater heights.
As you may recall, US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in August. Soon thereafter, China launched large-scale military exercises and attempted to disrupt peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. As a true friend of Taiwan, Your Majesty stood up and strongly opposed China's efforts to undermine the status quo. We are grateful and proud to have the Kingdom of Eswatini speak up for us as a voice of justice.
Over the years, Eswatini has continued to staunchly promote Taiwan's engagement in the international arena. In September, Your Majesty voiced support for Taiwan's participation in person at the UN General Assembly. Moreover, Eswatini has also strongly advocated for Taiwan's inclusion in other international organizations and raised awareness of Taiwan's valuable contributions to the international community. Your Majesty, because of you, Taiwan is not alone in seeking to achieve the common goals that we aspire to.
Taiwan and Eswatini always support one another. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Taiwan was quick to pledge financial support to Eswatini's reconstruction fund. As we are each other's best partners, Your Majesty, let me assure you that Taiwan will continue to work closely together with Eswatini, to bolster and advance the well-being of the peoples of both our nations.
Once again, I sincerely welcome Your Majesty and invite everyone to join me in a toast: to our nations' good fortune, to the good health of Your Majesty and Her Majesty the Queen Mother of Eswatini, and to the continuing prosperity of Taiwan and the Kingdom of Eswatini.
Siyabonga!(si-ya-BON-ga) Thank you!