TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan intelligence agency chief Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) has visited Eswatini ahead of President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) official trip next month, reports said Wednesday (Aug. 30).

The president’s Sept. 5-8 visit will mark the 55th anniversary of Eswatini independence and of its relations with Taiwan. The landlocked country next to South Africa and Mozambique is Taipei’s only official diplomatic ally in Africa.

The director general of the National Security Bureau (NSB) earlier described the current period as a “golden age” for exchanges between intelligence services, the Liberty Times reported. There was no mention of what Tsai Ming-yen discussed in Eswatini, but the report said his visit was a routine event ahead of the presidential tour.

Due to Taiwan’s understanding of events and conditions in China, other countries were more than ever interested in exchanging intelligence with Taipei, NSB officials said. While most of the exchanges focused on the United States and European nations, Eswatini also played a valuable strategic role, being Taiwan’s only ally in Africa, per the Liberty Times.

Tsai paid a courtesy visit to King Mswati III, and met Prime Minister Cleopas Sipho Dlamini and Deputy Prime Minister Themba Masuku. The Eswatini government underlined that President Tsai’s upcoming visit would contribute to strengthening relations.