Taiwan President Lai Ching-te has cancelled a trip to the southern African nation of Eswatini, accusing China of putting pressure on other countries to bar his aircraft from flying over their territories.
Seychelles, Mauritius and Madagascar revoked Lai’s flight permits after “intense pressure” and economic coercion from China, said a Taiwan official. China denied coercion, while praising the three Indian Ocean nations saying it had “high appreciation” for them.
This is the first publicly known instance where Taiwan’s leader has had to cancel a trip due to revoked flight permits.
Eswatini is one of 12 nations which are diplomatic allies of Taiwan and the only one in Africa.
According to news agency Reuters, Seychelles and Madagascar said they took the decision because they do not recognise Taiwan.
Taiwanese officials claimed that the three African countries revoked the flight permits “unexpectedly and without prior notice”.
China adheres to the “one China” principle in which Beijing asserts sovereignty over Taiwan, though many in Taiwan consider themselves to be a sovereign nation.
Beijing sees the self-governed island as a breakaway province that will eventually be part of the country, and has not ruled out the use of force to achieve this.
