That evening, a banquet was held at the hotel.

The event was a Western-style cocktail party combined with a buffet, hosted by the "Economic Cooperation Office" in Mbabane. Besides the inspection group, other personnel from Chinese institutions stationed in Swaziland also attended.

Since China and Swaziland had not yet formally established diplomatic relations, the number of Chinese personnel present caught Deng Shiyang's attention. Curious, he abandoned his usual low-profile approach and moved around the banquet hall with a drink in hand, distributing business cards and probing the backgrounds of the Chinese representatives present.

After half an hour, he had collected over a dozen business cards in his suit pocket, with the cardholders representing various government agencies and state-owned enterprises. Among them were the "China-Africa Investment and Development Trade Promotion Center" and the "China-Swaziland Economic and Trade Cooperation Office" under the Ministry of Commerce, the Asia-Africa Department of the Ministry of Agriculture's International Cooperation Division, as well as China Exim Bank, which provided interest-free loans, China Railway 14th Bureau, which had undertaken many infrastructure projects, China Telecom, which was helping the military government rebuild the communications network, and Shanghai High Definition Digital Technology Industry Co., which was setting up digital broadcasting.

After identifying which agencies and companies were present, Deng approached a group of representatives from the "Economic Cooperation Office." He waited for a long time, until the crowd around them dispersed, before politely striking up a conversation with one of the young officials in his early thirties.

He praised their work and discussed China's diplomatic policy towards Africa, then talked about Swaziland and the personnel stationed there. Curiously, he asked, "Isn't it a bit too many Chinese staff for a country with no official diplomatic relations?"

The young deputy director had already grown impatient with the conversation and replied coldly, "Signing a diplomatic agreement is just a formality. The 'Economic Cooperation Office' already functions like a formal diplomatic mission and can be upgraded to an embassy at any time."

Deng responded with a thoughtful "Hmm," then cautiously added, "But I still have doubts about the military government's competence."

The official's face showed a hint of disdain as he spoke in a boastful tone, "China is now Swaziland's top aid provider. This country's livelihood, economy, and infrastructure all rely on us. We have the largest diplomatic mission in Mbabane, and several of the president's advisors have studied in Beijing. The central government can easily influence this government's policies."

"I see," Deng said, feigning sudden understanding and nodding compliantly.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

The morning after their arrival in the capital, the inspection group met with representatives from the "Economic Cooperation Office" and the "China-Africa Investment and Development Trade Promotion Center" to learn about China's economic policies towards Swaziland and the incentives available for Chinese companies investing locally.

In the afternoon, the Swazi government arranged a tour.

Since entering Swaziland, the group's freedom had been strictly limited, and even during their outings, they were only shown carefully selected "model" projects, which had little to do with the actual inspection.

This tour was a typical example.

The group visited a light gray government building in the city center, which had once served as Mbabane's City Hall but had been converted into the Swaziland Revolutionary Memorial Hall.

Upon entering, they discovered that the memorial was actually a museum documenting the atrocities committed by the overthrown royal regime against the Swazi people, portraying the former government as brutal and inhumane.

The exhibits included numerous gruesome color illustrations depicting torture methods used by entities ranging from the Inquisition to the Third Reich. Display cases contained horrifying instruments of torture, such as a blood-stained flogging whip, iron pincers for pulling nails, bizarrely shaped flaying knives, wooden stocks for finger squeezing, and devices for branding and other punishments.

Against one wall of the exhibition hall stood a wooden water torture bed, several half-height wooden stocks, an X-shaped torture rack with shackles at each corner, and a triangular wooden horse that looked like something from a sadistic film.

The 5,000-square-foot exhibition space was filled with such items, while the guide, with a pained expression, passionately recounted the "darkness of the old society."

Deng couldn't help but mock internally, "This is great! The coup was only three months ago, and the 'development' here is almost catching up to North Korea’s half-century progress."

The second floor, known as the "International Friendship Hall," displayed gifts from various countries to President Ndofa. The items ranged from national gifts from allied countries to donations from companies and individuals. There were ivory carvings from Sudan, jade from Myanmar, porcelain from Jiangxi, China, gold-inlaid lacquerware from North Korea, Cohiba cigars from Cuba, a silver scimitar from Syria, a cloisonné decorative pistol from Norinco, a gold-plated MP5 submachine gun from Iran's Defense Industries Organization, as well as various household appliances and handicrafts crammed into display cases.

In the center of the exhibition, a black "Hongqi" sedan was surrounded by railings, a gift from Chinese President . The guide proudly explained, "To bring the car into the exhibition hall, a section of the outer wall was specially removed, and the car was lifted in with a crane before the wall was rebuilt."

In the southeast corner, there was a display case dedicated to media coverage of President Ndofa from various countries. It contained numerous clippings from newspapers such as *The New York Times*, *Le Figaro*, and *Bild*, as well as many obscure publications. At the very center was an issue of *Time* magazine with Ndofa on the cover, as if the whole world were closely following the "Great Leader's" every move.

Deng approached and glanced at the red border of the *Time* magazine cover. In the upper-right corner, the publication date "26 January 2009" was printed in black. He frowned and wondered to himself, "Why was Obama on the cover of the issue I had?"

Annotations:

Defense Industries Organization (D.I.O.): A state-owned military industrial enterprise in Iran.