New Delhi: Taiwan President Lai Ching-te completed a three-day surprise visit to Eswatini Tuesday and was escorted home by F-16 fighter jets, capping a diplomatic standoff that began with the leader accusing China of pressuring African nations into revoking airspace permissions for his aircraft.
The visit—to the only African country that maintains formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan—came after a planned trip scheduled for 22-26 April was called off when Seychelles, Mauritius and Madagascar abruptly withdrew previously granted permissions for Lai’s aircraft to pass through their airspace. Lai had been scheduled to attend celebrations marking the 40th anniversary of the accession of King Mswati III in Eswatini.
Lai ultimately reached the kingdom aboard an Eswatini government aircraft, following what he described in a Facebook post as “days of careful arrangements by the diplomatic and national security teams”. He did not elaborate on the route taken.
According to CNBC Africa, Lai’s aircraft, an Airbus A340, departed Eswatini for Taiwan Monday, taking a longer route across the southern Indian Ocean. The flight avoided flying over Mauritius and Madagascar, both of which maintain close economic and diplomatic ties with China.
The aircraft continued over Christmas Island, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines before entering Taiwanese airspace and landing in Taoyuan.
Indonesia’s foreign ministry said the Eswatini government aircraft had flown “in accordance with its right of overflight under international law”. As the plane approached Taiwan, F-16 fighter jets escorted it, according to images released by Lai’s office.
Our #AirForce escorted President @ChingteLai home from his trip to the Kingdom of #Eswatini. Mission accomplished.
🇹🇼❤️🇸🇿 pic.twitter.com/CABhMZUDFu
— Joseph Wu (@josephwutw) May 5, 2026
After returning home, Lai declared that “Taiwan will never be deterred by external pressures”, praised Eswatini for “standing firm against various diplomatic and economic pressure”.
Eswatini is one of just 12 countries worldwide that maintain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan.
China mocks, US backs visit
Beijing reacted to Lai’s visit unsparingly, calling Lai “a rat scurrying across the street”.
China’s foreign ministry Saturday accused Lai of staging a “stowaway-style escape farce” that made him “an international laughing stock”.
“No matter how the DPP authorities collude with external forces… it is all in vain and cannot change the fact that Taiwan is part of China. We urge Eswatini and other individual countries to see clearly the general trend of history… and not pull chestnuts out of the fire for a handful of ‘Taiwan independence’ separatists,” a statement on the ministry website read.
Lai earlier accused Beijing of deliberate obstruction, writing on X: “Ahead of my visit to Eswatini, several countries along our flight route abruptly revoked overflight clearance under pressure from China. China’s coercive actions undermine the status quo, once again exposing the risks authoritarian regimes pose to the international order.”
Taiwan’s presidential office also called the coordinated withdrawals “unprecedented”, citing “strong pressure from the Chinese authorities, including economic coercion”.
The US, a key Taiwan ally, rejected Beijing’s framing of the controversy and said the visit was routine and mustn’t be politicised.
A US spokesperson, according to Reuters, cited Lai’s predecessor Tsai Ing-wen’s visits to Eswatini in 2018 and 2023 and said: “Every democratically elected Taiwan president has made an overseas trip to visit Taiwan’s diplomatic partners”.
The spokesperson described Taiwan as “a trusted and capable partner” whose international relationships benefit partner countries, including Eswatini.
At a state banquet Sunday, King Mswati III cast his country’s ties with Taipei in terms of global inclusion: “When we go with the spirit of the United Nations, which says the UN is not going to leave no one behind, there are those who are still left behind—23 million people of Taiwan still feel that they are left behind.”
Taiwan is not a member of the United Nations owing to Chinese opposition.
The episode played out against an already fraught diplomatic backdrop. Last Thursday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told US Secretary of State Marco Rubio that Taiwan represents “the biggest point of risk” in Sino-American relations. The meeting came ahead of a planned summit between the two countries’ leaders in Beijing later this month.
The US remains Taiwan’s most important international backer and arms supplier, a source of enduring friction with Beijing, which views Taiwan as part of its territory and has long opposed official exchanges between Taiwan and foreign governments.
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