Taiwan President Lai Ching-te landed in Eswatini on Saturday, saying the visit — delayed after several countries revoked flight permissions — was intended to “affirm our longstanding friendship.” In social media posts on X and Facebook, Lai called the trip a demonstration that Taiwan, a self-ruled democracy China claims as its territory, “will never be deterred by external pressures.” He credited careful arrangements by his diplomatic and national security teams and said the visit will deepen cooperation with Eswatini in economics, agriculture, culture and education.
Taiwan had planned for Lai to visit Eswatini beginning April 22, but officials said overflight permits were withdrawn by Seychelles, Mauritius and Madagascar amid what Taipei described as strong pressure and economic coercion from Chinese authorities. For security reasons, Taiwan said it announced Lai’s arrival only after he had landed, a step it defended as consistent with international practice.
China’s foreign ministry dismissed the trip as “a laughable stunt,” saying Lai had been “smuggled” out of Taiwan and calling the visit “undignified” and doomed to fail. Beijing urged Eswatini and others to abandon support for what it termed “Taiwan independence” separatists.
Taiwan’s foreign ministry rejected Beijing’s characterization, saying the president’s travel fully complied with international law, diplomatic norms and Taiwan’s regulations.
The episode comes amid broader tension between Beijing and Taipei. China has not ruled out using force to assert control over Taiwan and has worked to isolate Taipei diplomatically. Eswatini is Taiwan’s only diplomatic partner in Africa; Taiwan notes that the small, landlocked country of about 1.2 million people has faced economic consequences from Beijing for maintaining ties with Taipei, including exclusion from certain tariff-free access to China’s market.
The visit follows precedent: Taiwan’s former president Tsai Ing-wen visited Eswatini in 2023. Separately, Taiwan’s government expressed concern this week after Chinese officials warned U.S. counterparts that Taiwan poses a major risk to relations between Beijing and Washington, underscoring the geopolitical sensitivities surrounding high-level trips by Taiwanese leaders.