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China’s Pressure Campaign on eSwatini Highlights an Extreme Contrast in State Power

by Eric Olander
File photo / A handout photo made available by Taiwan's Presidential Office shows Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen (L) and Ingwenyama Mswati III (R), king of Swaziland, during a meeting in Mbabane, Swaziland, Apr 17, 2018 (released Apr 18 2018).

This month’s report by journalist Carien Du Plessis in South Africa’ Daily Maverick newspaper about heightened Chinese pressure on eSwatini, the last remaining country in Africa to recognize Taiwan, is getting quite a bit of attention in Washington, D.C.

The article has been widely circulated inside the White House and State Department, according to administration officials, and now appears to have caught the attention of Joshua Meservey, a Senior Policy Analyst for Africa and the Middle East at the conservative Heritage Foundation.

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