By Ryan Woo and Ben Blanchard
BEIJING/TAIPEI, April 22 (Reuters) – China heaped praise on Wednesday on three African countries that denied overflight permission for the aircraft of Taiwan President Lai Ching-te, forcing him to cancel a trip to Eswatini, while Taipei denounced their “servitude” to Beijing.
It is the first instance of a Taiwan president having to cancel a foreign trip due to denial of access to airspace, as lack of diplomatic ties with the island does not normally pose a problem for its leaders in flying over countries.
Lai had been due to leave for the small southern African kingdom, one of just 12 countries with diplomatic ties to Chinese-claimed Taiwan, but the previous night, Taiwan said his visit had to be delayed.
Lai’s office accused China of having coerced the Seychelles, Mauritius, and Madagascar into revoking permission for Lai’s aircraft to fly over their territories.
In Beijing, a spokesperson for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office denied Taipei’s claim that Beijing had used economic “coercion” to ensure the flight was blocked.
Zhang Han, the spokesperson, expressed appreciation for the position and “practice” of those countries in adhering to the one-China principle.
“A just cause enjoys abundant support, while an unjust cause finds little support,” he told a regular news conference, quoting the ancient Chinese philosopher Mencius.
In a separate statement, China’s foreign ministry said it was clear there was “no longer a so-called Republic of China president in the world anymore”, referring to Taiwan by its formal name.
“Anyone who wears that false title is acting against history and will only invite disgrace upon themselves,” it said.
The Seychelles and Madagascar said they took the decision because they do not recognise Taiwan.
TAIWAN CONDEMNS CHINA
China has a special dislike of Lai, whom it calls a “separatist”. He rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims and says Taiwan has a right to engage with the rest of the world.
Taiwan has condemned China’s actions.
On Wednesday, its foreign ministry described the comments by Seychelles and Madagascar as being “in servitude of China”.
“The Republic of China is a sovereign state with the right to engage with the world — a right that cannot be denied, and that no country has the standing to obstruct,” it added in a statement.
Though the U.S. State Department has yet to comment, several U.S. lawmakers expressed concern.
“This is not diplomacy; it is economic pressure aimed at isolating a democratic partner,” the U.S. House Select Committee on China wrote on X.
The move comes a little more than a week after China rolled out new incentives for Taiwan, including the easing of food imports, after opposition leader Cheng Li-wun, chairwoman of the Kuomintang (KMT), met President Xi Jinping in Beijing.
The KMT, which is often at odds with Lai’s government, called on China to exercise restraint and give Taiwan sufficient diplomatic space.
“I think mainland China’s pressure is not clever, especially after the Cheng-Xi meeting,” senior KMT lawmaker Lai Shyh-bao told reporters in Taipei.
(Reporting by Ryan Woo and Ben Blanchard; Editing by Himani Sarkar and Clarence Fernandez)
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