By Zweli Martin Dlamini

MBABANE:Jeremy Liang, the Ambassador of Taiwan has been removed by his Government for allegedly engaging in corruption and/or manipulating Eswatini tenders through CECI Engineering Consultants and other companies linked to him to steal Taiwan funds donated to assist the Kingdom of Eswatini.

But the Ambassador has been allegedly resisting to go back home, the report shown to publication by a diplomatic source and written in Taiwanese language with a few English words thus making it difficult for this journalist to fully understand the contents suggests that, Ambassador Jeremy Liang is highly expected to leave his position this year in a month starting with letter “A” meaning it’s either April or August 2026.

But the highly confidential document shown to this Swaziland News by the diplomatic source linked to the Taiwan Embassy further suggest that, the Ambassador was removed after being challenged by the Taiwan Government to clarify all the investigative articles published by this Swaziland News.

The Taiwan Government was allegedly pressured to take action against Ambassador Liang after the opposition party presented some of the Swaziland News articles and demanded accountability.

But instead of clarifying the allegations of corruption, the Ambassador allegedly told his Government that, this publication hates Taiwan, he then colluded with Foreign Affairs Minister Pholile Dlamini-Shakantu and Prime Minister Russell Mmiso Dlamini to secure multimillion funding from Taiwan saying the money will be used to counter misinformation, disinformation and neutralize this publication.

Even though the Ambassador was allowed to implement the media project, the Taiwan Government allegedly conducted a high level investigation secretly, to verify the authenticity of the articles published by this publication and indeed, some of the allegations were confirmed to be true particularly, the deep involvement of the Ambassador in Eswatini business and multibillion projects thus depriving Eswatini corporate entities and Taiwan legitimate companies an opportunity to engage in business and strive.

When asked to share an independent legal opinion, lawyer Sibusiso Nhlabatsi told this publication that, the Ambassador “is not immune from prosecution” in his own country and therefore, can be arrested if there’s are prima facie allegations.

“Yes he is Taiwan citizen so the Taiwanese government or state can effect an arrest on anyone who has violated laws. So the Ambassador is not immune from prosecution in his own country he can be arrested if there are prima facie allegations of corruption against him,” said the lawyer.

It has been disclosed that, part of the millions donated by Taiwan to counter this publication was distributed among online publications spreading Eswatini Government’s propaganda including journalists and online bloggers strategically placed on social media to manage various platforms seeking to discredit all articles published by this Swaziland News independent online publication.

But some influential figures within the Taiwan Government allegedly complained that, the approach was not professional or meeting global standards to enable the information published by the Taiwan funded Eswatini online publications to be taken seriously.

While the opposition was calling for the removal of Ambassador Jeremy Liang, some within his political party allegedly wsuggested that, he must at least be allowed to implement the “Countering of Disinformation and Misinformation” project as per his own request but, the intelligence report exposed his deep involvement in Eswatini business, abuse of power and/or alleged stealing of Taiwan donated funds.

The funding comes after Eswatini Foreign Minister Pholile Dlamini-Shakantu signed the “Countering of Disinformation and Misinformation” agreement in 2025 with Taiwan Foreign Minister His Excellency Dr. Lin Chia-lung.

But the Ambassador was questioned why the funding was not handled by the Ministry of Information, Communication and Technology (ICT), part of the millions handled by the Eswatini Foreign Minister and PM Russell Mmiso Dlamini remain unaccounted for, according preliminary to the confidential diplomatic report.

“The Taiwan Government wanted him to leave in 2024 but he went to the King and convinced him saying he needs more time to conclude critical projects including the R5.2billion Strategic Oil Reserve. Taiwan investors are very upset about him because instead of being a diplomat, he is now a friend to Kareem Ashraff and a businessman. While Taiwan businesspeople were expecting investment deals with Eswatini, he was securing those deals for himself and the investors decided to meet the King through the Eswatini Investment Promotion Authority (EIPA). Even after leaving his position, he wants to remain in Eswatini and run his businesses fearing arrest back home,” said the diplomatic source when clarifying why the Ambassador has been removed.

The diplomatic source shared the information after reading an investigative story published by this publication in the early hours on Tuesday where the Ambassador was accused of assaulting a Mozambican based Chinese businessman amid fight over the supply of Dugongo cement tender.

Reached for comments by this Swaziland News, the Taiwan Ambassador declined to comment about the matter, he maintained his earlier comment suggesting that, this journalist must speak to the Government on issues involving Taiwan and Eswatini.

“Speak to the Government”, said the Taiwan Ambassador.

Efforts to seek a comment from Acting Government Spokesperson Thabile Mdluli proved unsuccessful at the time of compiling this report.

But Ambassador Liang and his alleged business partner Roger Tsai operate various businesses in Eswatini focusing on engineering, construction and insurance among others disregarding the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act despite a clear conflict of interest.

CECI Consulting Engineering was previously operating at the Nokwane based Royal Science and Technology Park (RSTP) and benefited millions of public funds and as a result, it is alleged that, one of the companies allegedly linked to the Taiwan Ambassador was vying for the tender to supply cement in the country as more construction and other projects emerge.