The Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats (CALD) regrets the cancellation of Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te’s state visit to Eswatini after three African nations revoked overflight permissions for his aircraft.
President Lai was supposed to leave for Eswatini today, 22 April, to attend the 40th anniversary of King Mswati III’s accession. The trip was cancelled because Mauritius, Seychelles and Madagascar rescind overflight permissions without prior notice. The African countries’ reversal of what should have been a sovereign decision was presumably because of coercion from China.
CALD affirms President Lai and the people of Taiwan’s right to engage their international partners without interference. The last-minute revocation of overflight permission affects aviation safety and is in contravention of relevant international norms and convention. While every country exercises sovereignty over its own airspace, decisions on airspace management should be grounded on transparency and predictability, prioritizing aviation safety and operational stability, as outlined in the Chicago Convention. That such decisions are now being politicized can have broader implications for economic trade, diplomatic relations and regional stability. The use of airspace management as a political tool can also worsen the transnational repression that many supporters of democracy are already experiencing.
As a network of liberal and democratic political parties, CALD condemns coercion of sovereign nations and supports Taiwan’s full engagement with the world.
Florencio B. Abad (sgd.)
Chairperson
22 April 2026
Categorised in: Statements
This post was written by CALD
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