King Swadini visited Taiwan to sign a mutual legal assistance agreement: Beijing has not cut off the two states from the air.

Five months ago, President Reyqingde of Taiwan was forced to postpone his trip to Taiwan because the three countries withdrew their permission to fly over. On 9 October, King Mswati III of Swadini arrived in Taipei on a special flight and publicly pledged to continue to assist Taiwan in its international engagement, and Taiwan and Swadini signed an agreement on mutual legal assistance in criminal matters cooperation. The special significance of this visit for the foreign policy of Beijing to continue to reduce Taiwan's space for exchange is not the 21-thirty cannon of the welcoming ceremony, but rather how the two sides have converted a blocked voyage into an enforceable government cooperation.

The twentieth time, a new legal cooperation agreement was signed.

According to information released by the Taiwan Foreign Ministry and the Presidency on 9 October, the Muswati III and Princess Zuma led a mission to Taiwan until 17 October, with diplomatic, commercial and judicial officials. This is the twentieth visit of the King since he took office in 1986 and the fifty-eighth anniversary of the establishment of the two parties. Reyqingde welcomed the military ceremony in Taipei, and subsequently met with the King at the presidential palace and witnessed the signing of the Mutual Assistance Agreement in Criminal Matters. The President ' s Office of Taiwan stated that the two countries would establish institutional channels for criminal investigation, mutual legal assistance and cooperation on the rule of law.

The agreement was published on the same day by the Taiwan Ministry of Justice and covers cross-border taking of testimony and evidence, service of judicial documents, identification and location of persons, search and seizure, assistance in freezing or confiscating assets and exchange of criminal records. This means that Taiwan ' s interstate with Swadini further extends from mutual solidarity to enforceable criminal justice collaboration. The two sides discuss at the same time medical, vocational training, digital technology, infrastructure and energy cooperation, and promote investment by Taiwan ' s enterprises in the Swadini Industrial Innovation Park; These long-term projects will test the genuine entry of diplomatic cooperation into the societies and industries of the two countries.

How the plane became a diplomatic pressure tool

In April this year, Reyqingde, who had scheduled to visit Taiwan's only official state of transit in Africa, Swadini, received information about the withdrawal of overflight permits by Seychelles, Mauritius and Madagascar before leaving. The President's Office of Taiwan accused China of having induced the three countries to change their decisions through economic and diplomatic pressure; Beijing insists on opposing official political engagement with Taiwan's leaders. The specific pressure dialogue and the fact that the national decision-making files are not all open requires a separate view of the accountability mechanism.

On 2 May, Lechand finally arrived in Africa on a flight from the Crown of Swadini on the A340 plane; The return journey also takes a longer southern route, avoiding the disputed flight leg. The aircraft is provided by the royal family rather than chartered, which shows that one country ' s diplomatic allies can help the other side resume a Head of State visit through transportation resources. This is not a military breakthrough, but a case of a political breakthrough using actual air logistics.

What the sole official State of Africa means

The Chinese diplomatic service has repeatedly reaffirmed the one-China principle in connection with such visits and has opposed official diplomatic exchanges between any country and Taiwan. Taiwan's present number of states is limited, with only Swadini remaining in Africa, but the statement of its head of State on the issue of United Nations participation this time demonstrates that inter-State recognition of relations cannot be decided directly by third-party Governments. The call of Mr. Mswati III to the United Nations General Assembly in September this year to find ways for Taiwan to participate substantively in international organizations was reiterated on this occasion.

Taiwan and the state of Swadini cannot be exempted from public scrutiny by being sidelined. The creation of local employment through investment in industrial parks and the protection of the legal rights of the parties through mutual legal assistance are concrete results that can be pursued by the population of both countries. As Swadini himself continues to be criticized by democratic and human rights organizations for the concentration of power in the Crown, Taiwan should place greater emphasis on transparency in cooperation rather than on diplomatic support as a political leverage that is not subject to scrutiny.

Beijing had tried to allow diplomatic travel to influence Taiwan ' s leaders by using the airspace of a third country, and Swadine had provided a royal jet to help complete the visit. The shift to specific mutual legal assistance now shows that the diplomatic autonomy of small States is not determined by the pressure of large States alone. For Taiwan, the value of maintaining inter-State relations lies in the transformation of political recognition into a sustainable system of cooperation; For Swadini, cooperation with Taipei should not be a reason for the royal family to be exempt from human rights monitoring in the country.