Taiwanese President William Lai Ching-te arrived in Eswatini on Saturday, defiantly proclaiming Taiwan’s right to engage with friends and allies despite intensive efforts from China to block his trip.
The Chinese Communist government exerted pressure last month on the Seychelles, Mauritius, and Madagascar to revoke flight permits for Lai’s presidential aircraft, making it all but impossible for the Taiwanese president to reach Eswatini’s airspace.
Lai canceled his trip on April 21, denouncing China’s “economic coercion,” but on Saturday he managed to bypass the Chinese blockade by taking an unannounced flight on an Eswatini aircraft.
Eswatini is one of just 12 remaining countries that maintain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan. The island’s other diplomatic partners were systematically peeled away by Beijing in an aggressive campaign that began after the election of Lai’s predecessor, Tsai Ing-wen, in 2016. China denounced Tsai and her DPP party as “separatists” and used similarly hyperbolic language against fellow DPP member Lai when he became her successor in January 2024.
Lai had originally hoped to visit Eswatini during the 40th anniversary celebration for the accession of King Mswati III, but China’s interference forced him to postpone the trip – the first time Beijing has been able to cancel an overseas trip by the president of Taiwan.
“Taiwan will never be deterred by external pressures,” Lai said when he arrived in Eswatini on Saturday, two weeks after originally planned. “Our resolve and commitment are underpinned by the understanding that Taiwan will continue to engage with the world — no matter the challenges faced.”
“I hope this trip will contribute to even deeper friendship between Taiwan and Eswatini, thanks to closer economic, agricultural, cultural and educational links, as well as promote Taiwan’s international co-operation,” he said.
Lai’s social media posts, and the official statements from his office, did not explain exactly how he got to Eswatini, but he published photos that showed him deplaning from what appeared to be the same government aircraft that carried Eswatini Deputy Prime Minister Thulisile Dladla to Taipei last week.
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King Mswati spoke up for Taiwan at a banquet he held for Lai on Saturday night.
“When we go with the spirit of the U.N, which says the U.N. is not going to leave no one behind, there are those who are still left behind — 23 million people of Taiwan still feel that they are left behind,” he declared, alluding to China’s success at blocking Taiwan from membership in the United Nations.
The U.S. State Department was delighted by Lai’s visit to the former Swaziland.
“Taiwan is a trusted and capable partner of the United States and many others, and its relationships around the world provide significant benefits to the citizens of those countries, including Eswatini. This travel is routine and should not be politicized,” the State Department said.
China’s President Xi Jinping holds a talk with Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, on Wednesday, April 15, 2026. (Iori Sagisawa/AP)
The Chinese Communist government was furious at Lai for evading its blockade, accusing him of “skulking” his way into Eswatini with a “stowaway-style escape farce.”
“Lai Ching-te’s despicable conduct — like a rat scurrying across the street — will inevitably be met with ridicule by the international community,” hissed China’s Taiwan Affairs Office.
“No matter how the Democratic Progressive Party authorities collude with external forces or in what form they ‘buy the loyalty of others’, it is all a futile effort that cannot change the fact that Taiwan is part of China,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry added, with ominous advice for Eswatini to “see clearly the general trend of history” and abandon Taiwan.
On Friday, China announced that it would end tariffs for all African countries until April 2028, except Eswatini. Some analysts felt China’s heavy-handed move would backfire, pushing Eswatini closer to Taiwan.
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Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council said Lai does not need Beijing’s permission to travel and yawned that China’s “fishwife gutter talk is boring in the extreme.”
China managed one bitter feat of revenge on Friday, forcing an international human rights conference called RightsCon to cancel its annual meeting in Zambia because Taiwanese advocates were scheduled to attend.
“We believe foreign interference is the reason RightsCon 2026 won’t proceed in Zambia,” New York-based conference organizer Access Now said on Friday.
“What the [Zambian] government wanted from us in order to lift the postponement was conveyed to us informally from multiple sources: we would have to moderate specific topics and exclude communities at risk, including our Taiwanese participants, from in-person and online participation,” the group said.