President William Lai (賴清德) arrived home today from Eswatini saying Taiwan would not give in to pressure, having taken a circuitous route over the southern part of the Indian Ocean to avoid airspace controlled by close friends of China.
The government said China had forced three Indian Ocean states — the Seychelles, Mauritius and Madagascar — to deny overflight permission for his aircraft when he had planned to originally go last month for celebrations for the 40th anniversary of the accession of King Mswati III.
Lai arrived in the former Swaziland, one of just 12 countries with formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, on Saturday, on a trip neither government had announced in advance.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times
Lai flew on the king's private A340, previously operated by China Airlines.
"The world belongs to everyone. Taiwan belongs to the world. Taiwanese are citizens of the world. Taiwanese have the right to engage with the world. We will not retreat in the face of suppression," Lai said upon arrival Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport.
"The fact that this trip was obstructed at one point only made the world see Taiwan's people's firm determination and will to engage with the world," he added.
Photo courtesy of Flightradar24
There was no immediate response from the Chinese government, which last week likened Lai to a "rat" for his "skulking" visit to Eswatini.
Lai's aircraft, the same A340, left Eswatini yesterday for Taiwan, taking a long route over the bottom part of the Indian Ocean to avoid the flight information regions of Mauritius and Madagascar, which both have deep economic and diplomatic ties with Beijing.
Then aircraft then flew over Australia's Christmas Island, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines, before entering Taiwan airspace for arrival into Taoyuan, according to flight tracking apps.
Prior to going to Africa, Lai's last international trip was a tour of the Pacific, including stopovers in Hawaii and the US territory of Guam, in late 2024.
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