A planned official visit by Lai Ching-te, leader of the Taiwan region, to the Kingdom of Eswatini has been forced into postponement after multiple countries along the proposed travel route withdrew overflight clearances under pressure from mainland China, Taiwan’s representative office in Haiti announced this week. The trip, originally scheduled to run from April 22 to 27, was meant to mark national celebrations in Eswatini, one of the few countries that still formally recognizes Taiwan.
In an official statement released Wednesday, the representative office said the abrupt cancellation of overflight authorizations eliminated the necessary security conditions for Lai, his accompanying delegation and the presidential aircraft to complete the journey safely. In response to the change of plans, Lai has appointed a special envoy to attend Eswatini’s national events in his place.
The statement pinned the blame for the canceled permits directly on Beijing, claiming the affected countries made their decisions after facing economic coercion and political pressure from Chinese authorities. It argued that these actions violate the sovereignty of the countries that withdrew the permits, threaten the safety of global civil aviation travel, and run counter to long-standing international norms and standard practices for cross-border air travel.
The Taiwan region’s government issued a formal condemnation of the move, reaffirming its claim that Taiwan is a sovereign entity and that its 23 million residents are entitled to unimpeded, un-intimidated participation in international affairs.