Taiwan president cancels trip after African countries revoke flight permits

Taiwan President Lai Ching-te has cancelled a trip to the southern African nation of Eswatini, accusing China of putting pressure on other countries to bar his aircraft from flying over their territories. Seychelles, Mauritius and Madagascar revoked Lai's flight permits after "intense pressure" and economic coercion from China, said a Taiwan offici...

Taiwan President Lai Ching-te has cancelled a trip to the southern African nation of Eswatini, accusing China of putting pressure on other countries to bar his aircraft from flying over their territories.

Seychelles, Mauritius and Madagascar revoked Lai's flight permits after "intense pressure" and economic coercion from China, said a Taiwan official. China denied coercion, while praising the three Indian Ocean nations saying it had "high appreciation" for them.

This is the first publicly known instance where Taiwan's leader has had to cancel a trip due to revoked flight permits.

Eswatini is one of 12 nations which are diplomatic allies of Taiwan and the only one in Africa.