Lai tried to fly to Eswatini via Europe: Bloomberg
Lai tried to fly to Eswatini via Europe: Bloomberg
2026-04-30
And more details are coming to light regarding the abrupt cancellation of President Lai Ching-te’s trip to Eswatini last week. The visit was called off after three countries off the coast of Africa revoked overflight clearance for Lai’s plane due to Chinese pressure. According to Bloomberg, Taiwan tried to find an alternative route to Africa via Europe and asked allies such as Germany and Czechia for permission to transit. But neither country gave approval. In the case of Germany, the country was pressured by China to reject the request. It was also worried that Lai could get stuck in Germany if more countries in Africa decided to block their airspace.
On Monday, Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung posted photos from Eswatini, where he inspected the work of a Taiwanese medical team. He made it to Africa smoothly, yet President Lai Ching-te’s scheduled trip last week was abruptly canceled.
Lai has been due to visit Eswatini, but one day before his departure, three island nations off the coast of Africa revoked overflight clearance for his plane. According to Bloomberg, Taiwan then tried to find an alternative route via Europe, and requested European countries for clearance. Beijing allegedly caught wind of this and preemptively instructed Germany to refuse Taiwan’s request. The country was reportedly worried that other countries in Africa would ultimately revoke their clearance for Lai too, leaving the president stuck in Germany. The country allegedly did not respond to Taiwan’s request, and neither did Czechia, which has frequently held exchanges with Taiwan’s legislature in recent years.
Karen Kuo
Presidential Office Spokesperson
Beijing pressured three countries that we would be flying over, including Mauritius and Madagascar, to suspend the overflight permits we had obtained. We are very grateful for all the assistance that our many allied countries lent us.
Hsiao Kuang-wei
Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson
Based on multiple considerations, including flight safety, the itinerary and the smooth completion of the mission, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs declines to comment on the details of the matter.
The government did not confirm or deny the claims about European countries ignoring Taiwan. A DPP lawmaker says that Europe’s support for Taiwan is genuine and substantial, saying that only people with ulterior motives would try to find fault.
Rosalia Wu
Legislator (DPP)
Had China not intervened, I believe all democratic countries would’ve stood with Taiwan. The EU condemned the matter immediately. There’s no need to put a wedge between Taiwan and its democratic allies.
China’s attempts to suppress Taiwan continue, posing problems even when the president is trying to visit a diplomatic ally.
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彭博社報導"德.捷拒賴總統過境" 吳思瑤:勿分化台歐民主情誼
2026-04-30
總統賴清德被中國打壓，無法出訪我國非洲友邦史瓦帝尼，外媒彭博社再爆，府方原本打算改繞到歐洲，卻被德國、捷克卻"已讀不回"，除了中國施壓，德國也擔心若其他國家不允許，賴清德會被困在他們境內出不去。對此府方重申是"非洲3島國臨時取消許可"，綠營也說"不要挑撥台灣跟歐洲各國的民主情誼"。
外交部長林佳龍27號臉書貼出，視察台灣醫療團協助史瓦帝尼轉型"智慧醫療"的照片，他臨危受命，圓滿完成代表賴總統的出訪任務，但如今又爆出更多"航權內幕"。
外媒彭博社報導，非洲3島國臨時取消飛航許可後，府方尋求從歐洲繞道、對沿途各國發出緊急請求，北京得知後立刻要德國拒絕，德方也擔心即便他們批准，若往南的非洲國家也臨時封鎖賴清德，他會困在德國出不去，最後對方"已讀不回"。同樣作法還有近年與台灣國會交流頻頻的捷克。
[[總統府發言人 郭雅慧]]
“北京的施壓，導致我們所經過的3個國家，模里西斯，以及馬達加斯加等，原本獲得允許的飛行許可，臨時取消導致的。過程中我們非常感謝諸多友盟國家協助我們。”
[[外交部發言人蕭光偉]]
“基於飛航安全，整體行程以及任務順利推動等多重考量，外交部對相關作業細節沒有評論。”
對於"歐洲民主盟友"也給賴清德軟釘子，行政團隊既沒承認、也不否認，綠營強調歐洲對台的支持都是真實也有力道，有心人士勿見縫插針。
[[立委(民) 吳思瑤]]
“如果沒有中國出手，我相信所有民主國家，也是堅定跟台灣站在一起。歐盟也在第一時間發出譴責，不需要再去分化台灣跟民主同盟國家的關係。”
中國對台打壓無所不用其極，未來的元首出訪友邦，恐怕出國門前就得先上演外交攻防。
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