[Politics] Ministry of Foreign Affairs: South African Media Falsely Accuses Taiwan-Eswatini Relations, Collaboration with China is Self-Evident

South African media outlet Swaziland News has again accused Taiwan-Eswatini cooperative relations. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) today (16th) strongly condemned the media outlet for fabricating baseless accusations and emphasized that the outlet's editor-in-chief recently visited China to meet with a spokesperson for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, making the "collaboration" relationship with China self-evident. MOFA issued a press release in the evening stating that domestic media outlets cited Swaziland News on the 13th, alleging that Taiwan's Ambassador to Eswatini, Liang Hong-tsung, was suspected of lobbying Eswatini parliamentary members to oust Prime Minister Russell Dlamini through a vote of no confidence. It also claimed that Taiwan aided parliamentary members in winning elections by providing aid such as rice, thereby defending Taiwan-Eswatini relations in parliament. MOFA responded sternly, stating that Swaziland News has long systematically targeted the Eswatini government and the Embassy in Eswatini, disseminating false and untrue information. The media outlet disregards journalistic professionalism, willingly serving as a tool for China, with clear intentions to undermine the mutual trust and diplomatic relations between Taiwan and Eswatini. Its editor-in-chief, Zweli Martin Dlamini, was invited to visit China in mid-May this year and met with Guo Jia-kun, a spokesperson for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, demonstrating the media outlet's "collaboration" relationship with China is self-evident. MOFA stated that the media outlet had previously accused Ambassador Liang Hong-tsung of multiple corruption cases on the eve of President Lai's visit to Eswatini this year, attacking Taiwan's government's diplomatic actions with fabricated false information. Recently, as Taiwan-Eswatini diplomatic relations have deepened following President Lai's visit, the outlet has continued to attempt to divide the bilateral relationship with false reporting. MOFA has repeatedly and sternly refuted and condemned these actions. High-level exchanges between Taiwan and Eswatini are frequent and close, with bilateral relations built on a foundation of mutual trust and respect for sovereignty, ensuring strong and stable diplomatic ties. The accusations by Swaziland News are still fabrications without factual basis, and MOFA once again strongly condemns them. MOFA expresses its strongest condemnation of China's malicious and relentless defamation of Taiwan's cooperative relations with its allies through specific media outlets and information channels, attempting to weaken the international community's trust in Taiwan's diplomatic work. MOFA urges the public not to be misled or divided by biased and speculative media reports, inadvertently becoming a channel for disseminating cognitive warfare orchestrated by certain forces. MOFA calls for serious attention and joint condemnation from all sectors regarding China's supply chain of misinformation, which, under the guise of news and freedom of speech, engages in malicious acts that harm democratic and free systems and violate journalistic ethics. (Editor: Liao Yi-ting)