The Daily Populous Wednesday April 22nd, 2026 night edition
Authored by wral.com and submitted by WayOutbackBoy

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan’s president postponed a visit to Africa this week when three countries withdrew permission for him to fly over their territories after pressure from China, his office said Tuesday.

President Lai Ching-te was set to visit Eswatini, Taiwan’s sole remaining diplomatic ally in Africa, from April 22-26.

But flight permits were canceled in island nations along the route, Secretary-General to the president, Pan Meng-an, told journalists in Taipei.

“The cancellation of flight permits by Seychelles, Mauritius and Madagascar without prior warning was actually due to strong pressure from the Chinese authorities, including economic coercion,” Pan said.

China’s alleged pressure “constitutes blatant interference in the internal affairs of other countries, disrupts the regional status quo and hurts the feelings of the Taiwanese people,” he added.

China’s Foreign Ministry, the Mauritius government, the Seychelles government and the office of the Madagascar president did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Eswatini's government said in a statement that it regretted that Lai wasn't able to visit but it “does not change the status of our longstanding bilateral relations.”

China claims self-ruled Taiwan as its breakaway province, to be retaken by force if necessary, and prohibits countries it has diplomatic relations with from maintaining formal ties with Taipei.

Over the past few years, Beijing has intensified a campaign of poaching Taiwan’s diplomatic allies, often while financing infrastructure and other projects in the less-developed countries.

Taipei now has diplomatic ties with only 12 countries, almost all smaller nations in Latin America, the Caribbean and the Pacific.

Most recently, the Pacific Island nation of Nauru switched diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China in January 2024, following similar moves by Honduras in 2023 and Nicaragua in 2021.

The last visit by a Taiwanese president to Eswatini was in 2023, when former President Tsai Ing-wen visited the southern African country of 1.2 million people and met with King Mswati III.

Mistreanu reported from Bangkok. Associated Press writers Nokukhanya Musi in Manzini, Eswatini, and Gerald Imray in Cape Town, South Africa, contributed to this report.

tsrich on April 21st, 2026 at 14:09 UTC »

What if he just flew commercial?

alwaysrecession on April 21st, 2026 at 13:33 UTC »

What happens if he still flies through?

Infodataplace on April 21st, 2026 at 13:28 UTC »

imagine being told your flight is cancelled not because of weather or technical issues, but geopolitics halfway across the map… like “sorry, airspace unavailable due to… reasons”

it’s kinda absurd how indirect this is, no confrontation, just a bunch of quiet “nope”s along the route and that’s enough

feels less like diplomacy and more like someone slowly closing doors in a hallway until there’s nowhere left to walk