Lai Ching-te arrived in Eswatini on Saturday, a trip Taiwan said had been delayed after multiple countries withdrew permission for him to fly over their territories, which Taiwan attributed to pressure from Beijing.
In a post on X, Lai said he reached the southern African nation to “affirm our longstanding friendship.” He framed the visit as continuity in Taiwan’s ties with Eswatini, which Taiwan describes as its only diplomatic ally in Africa, and he wrote that Taiwan would never be “deterred by external pressures.”
Taiwan had originally scheduled the trip to Eswatini for April 22 but postponed it after Taiwanese officials said flight permits were revoked by Seychelles, Mauritius and Madagascar. Taiwan said those reversals came over “strong pressure from the Chinese authorities, including economic coercion,” an explanation it tied directly to China’s efforts to isolate Taipei diplomatically.
Lai also posted on Facebook that the trip became possible after “careful arrangements” by his diplomatic and national security teams. In that post, he said the visit would deepen friendship between Taiwan and Eswatini through closer economic, agricultural, cultural and educational ties.
China’s response came shortly after Lai posted about his arrival. China’s Foreign Ministry said Lai was “performing a laughable stunt in front of the world” and said he was “smuggled” out of Taiwan. The ministry also urged Eswatini and other countries to “stop serving as the prop of ‘Taiwan independence’ separatists,” and it said the visit would be a “losing cause” with “nothing” that would change Beijing’s position.
Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry rejected Beijing’s portrayal. It said the trip was conducted “in accordance with international law, international norms, diplomatic practices” and Taiwan’s regulations. Taiwan also said it announced the visit only after Lai landed safely, calling the approach a precaution with “numerous international precedents.”
The episode arrives amid broader strain in cross-strait relations and global diplomacy. China has not ruled out using force to take control of Taiwan and has sought to block other countries from maintaining formal diplomatic ties with Taipei. In that context, Taiwan pointed to its prior engagement with Eswatini, noting that in 2023 Tsai Ing-wen was the most recent Taiwanese president to visit the country.
Taiwan’s reporting also connected the trip to recent U.S.-China diplomacy, saying that on Friday China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi told U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a phone call that Taiwan is the “biggest risk” in relations between Beijing and Washington.