Overview
- Lai Ching-te, who landed Tuesday in Taipei, completed a three-day state visit to Eswatini after flying on King Mswati III’s A340 along a long southern Indian Ocean route tracked over Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines, with F-16s escorting the final leg.
- Seychelles, Mauritius and Madagascar revoked overflight permits for Lai’s first attempt in April, a step Taiwan linked to Chinese pressure as two of the countries cited adherence to Beijing’s one-China policy.
- During the visit, Taiwan and Eswatini signed a customs mutual assistance pact and a joint communiqué on trade, and Lai promoted projects including a planned Taiwan Industrial Innovation Park and a strategic oil reserve facility.
- Beijing denounced the trip as a “stowaway-style” stunt and mocked Lai, while the U.S. called the travel routine for a democratically elected Taiwan leader and urged against politicizing aviation rules.
- The episode raised concerns that countries are using overflight approvals—normally a safety-focused, apolitical process in civil aviation—as leverage, which could complicate future travel by Taiwan’s leaders and strain ties with its few remaining allies.