China forces Africa to ground Taiwan president's plane

Taiwan President Lai Ching-te has canceled a planned visit to Eswatini this week after Seychelles, Mauritius, and Madagascar revoked flight permits for his aircraft under pressure from China, his office announced Tuesday. Lai was scheduled to visit the small southern African nation from April 22 to 26 to attend the 40th anniversary of King Mswati III's accession and his 58th birthday, but will instead send a special envoy. Presidential Secretary-General Pan Meng-an called the countries' actions "unprecedented," saying Beijing exerted "intense pressure" including economic coercion to force the overflight permit withdrawals without prior warning. Eswatini remains Taiwan's only diplomatic ally on the African continent and one of just 12 countries worldwide that maintain formal relations with Taipei, most of them smaller nations in Latin America, the Caribbean, and the Pacific. China claims self-ruled Taiwan as a breakaway province and has intensified a campaign over recent years to persuade Taiwan's remaining diplomatic partners to switch recognition to Beijing. A Madagascar foreign ministry official confirmed the permit denial, stating that "Malagasy diplomacy recognises only one China" and the decision was made "in full respect of Madagascar's sovereignty over its airspace." Taiwan's foreign ministry strongly condemned Beijing's actions, saying the coercion "constitutes a blatant interference in another country's internal affairs." Taiwanese presidents typically overfly countries without formal diplomatic ties without issue, but China views Lai with particular hostility, calling him a "separatist." The president has maintained that only Taiwan's people can decide their future and that the island has the right to engage internationally without Beijing's interference. Eswatini became Taiwan's last African ally when Burkina Faso switched diplomatic recognition to Beijing in 2018. King Mswati III attended Lai's inauguration last year, and former President Tsai Ing-wen made the previous presidential visit to Eswatini in 2023.