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And more details are coming to light regarding the abrupt cancellation of President Lai Ching-te’s trip to Eswatini last week. The visit was called off after three countries off the coast of Africa revoked overflight clearance for Lai’s plane due to Chinese pressure. According to Bloomberg, Taiwan tried to find an alternative route to Africa via Europe and asked allies such as Germany and Czechia for permission to transit. But neither country gave approval. In the case of Germany, the country was pressured by China to reject the request. It was also worried that Lai could get stuck in Germany if more countries in Africa decided to block their airspace.

On Monday, Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung posted photos from Eswatini, where he inspected the work of a Taiwanese medical team. He made it to Africa smoothly, yet President Lai Ching-te’s scheduled trip last week was abruptly canceled.

Lai has been due to visit Eswatini, but one day before his departure, three island nations off the coast of Africa revoked overflight clearance for his plane. According to Bloomberg, Taiwan then tried to find an alternative route via Europe, and requested European countries for clearance. Beijing allegedly caught wind of this and preemptively instructed Germany to refuse Taiwan’s request. The country was reportedly worried that other countries in Africa would ultimately revoke their clearance for Lai too, leaving the president stuck in Germany. The country allegedly did not respond to Taiwan’s request, and neither did Czechia, which has frequently held exchanges with Taiwan’s legislature in recent years.

Karen Kuo
Presidential Office Spokesperson
Beijing pressured three countries that we would be flying over, including Mauritius and Madagascar, to suspend the overflight permits we had obtained. We are very grateful for all the assistance that our many allied countries lent us.

Hsiao Kuang-wei
Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson
Based on multiple considerations, including flight safety, the itinerary and the smooth completion of the mission, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs declines to comment on the details of the matter.

The government did not confirm or deny the claims about European countries ignoring Taiwan. A DPP lawmaker says that Europe’s support for Taiwan is genuine and substantial, saying that only people with ulterior motives would try to find fault.

Rosalia Wu
Legislator (DPP)
Had China not intervened, I believe all democratic countries would’ve stood with Taiwan. The EU condemned the matter immediately. There’s no need to put a wedge between Taiwan and its democratic allies.

China’s attempts to suppress Taiwan continue, posing problems even when the president is trying to visit a diplomatic ally.

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