China urges Eswatini - the only African country absent from this week's China-Africa summit held in Beijing - against developing diplomatic relations with Taiwan

China’s foreign ministry on Wednesday called on Eswatini, the sole diplomatic ally of Taiwan in Africa, to “recognize the trend” and “make correct decisions.”

Eswatini is the only African country absent from the 2024 Summit of the Forum of China-Africa Cooperation that is being held in Beijing this week.

Joined by representatives from 53 African countries and other regional and international organizations, the summit is expected to adopt an action plan for the two sides to further strengthen cooperation in global governance, security, trade and investment in the next three years.

China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told reporters that is “It is not in Eswatini’s interest to develop official diplomatic relations with the Taiwan region.”

China has long regarded the self-ruled Taiwan as a reneged province that has no right to establish diplomatic relations with other sovereign states.

At the daily news briefing, Mao said she was unaware of a report that a former New York governor’s aide has been charged with acting as an undisclosed agent of Beijing.

Linda Sun was arrested Tuesday morning along with her husband at their multimillion-dollar home on Long Island, New York.

Prosecutors say Sun blocked representatives of the Taiwanese government from having access to high-level officials in New York and shaped New York governmental messaging to align with China’s priorities, among other infractions.