On May 5, President Lai Ching-te returned to Taiwan after a surprise visit to Eswatini, Taiwan’s only diplomatic ally in Africa. His trip was a surprise after a month that had seen China pressure Taiwan’s diplomatic space on the African continent multiple times.
Lai had planned to visit Eswatini at the end of April to attend celebrations marking King Mswati III’s 40th year on the throne and 58th birthday. However, that trip was abruptly canceled after Madagascar, Mauritius, and the Seychelles retracted overflight permission for Lai’s plane to pass through their airspace. Politicians with the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) stated that overflight permissions had been revoked with only 12 hours’ notice, despite having originally been approved weeks in advance.
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