Tensions between China and Taiwan have once again intensified, underscoring the deepening diplomatic and political divide after Taiwan President Lai Ching-te’s visit to Eswatini, described by China ”as an act of smuggling and separatism”, while Lai insisting no country has the right to stop Taiwan from engaging with the world.
Beijing views such engagements as a challenge to its “One China” principle. Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian has criticised Taiwan’s president after he completed a visit to Eswatini, Africa’s only remaining Taiwan ally, despite Beijing successfully pressuring several countries to revoke airspace permits for his plane.
Chinese officials called the trip “dangerous and outrageous” and described Lai Ching-te as having “smuggled” himself out of Taiwan on a foreign aircraft.
“What he did was extremely dangerous and outrageous,” ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said at a regular briefing. “The fact that he would smuggle himself in and out of the country shows exactly that ‘Taiwan independence’ separatism is just shady business and unacceptable to the international community. His act was nothing but a scandalous stunt.”
Lin Jian also accused Lai Ching-te of concealing passenger information and travel details, forcing route through restricted airspace.
Taiwan president Lai, for his part, pushed back firmly. After meeting with King Mswati III and signing trade agreements, he rejected Beijing’s attempts to isolate Taiwan diplomatically.
“No country has the right to prevent Taiwan from contributing to the world.”
President Lai Ching-te of Taiwan arrived in Eswatini on May 2 for a surprise visit, following a high-profile disruption of his initial travel plans in late April.The original trip, scheduled for April 22-26 to attend the 40th anniversary of King Mswati III’s accession, was postponed after Seychelles, Mauritius, and Madagascar abruptly revoked overflight permits for the presidential charter without prior notice.
Seychelles, Mauritius and Madagascar revoked Lai’s flight permits after “intense pressure” and economic coercion from China, a Taiwan official said as per media reports. China denied coercion, while praising the three Indian Ocean nations saying it had “high appreciation” for them.
Rather than abandon the visit, Lai’s team made alternative arrangements that were not publicly disclosed. On the return journey, flight tracking showed the plane crossing the airspace of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei, and Australia. Lin said those countries whose airspace was used had rejected permits, and accused Lai of having “forced his way through.”
Lin reaffirmed China’s position that the one-China principle, under which Beijing claims Taiwan as part of its territory, is an “unshakable international consensus,” and warned that the pursuit of what China calls “Taiwan independence” was a “dead end.” He urged politicians in Eswatini and other Taiwan allies to reconsider their ties with Taipei.
Taiwan maintains formal diplomatic relations with 12 sovereign states. These relationships are primarily concentrated in Latin America, the Caribbean, and the Pacific, with Eswatini.