LY committee condemns China after Lai forced to cancel Eswatini visit

Taipei, April 22 (CNA) A committee in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan has passed a resolution condemning Beijing for allegedly coercing three African countries into revoking overflight permits for President Lai Ching-te's (賴清德) planned trip to Eswatini, forcing the trip to be canceled.

Lai was scheduled to leave Wednesday for Eswatini, Taiwan's sole African ally, but the trip was canceled Tuesday after Seychelles, Mauritius, and Madagascar rescinded flight authorizations for Lai's charter flight due to what Taipei has attributed to Chinese pressure.

● Lai's Eswatini visit suspended due to China pressure: Presidential Office

At a meeting of the Legislative Yuan's Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers introduced a motion denouncing Beijing's "coercion" of third countries to revoke overflight permits for Taiwan's head of state.

The proposal received cross-party backing and passed without objection.

DPP Legislator Puma Shen (沈伯洋) said China used economic leverage to force other countries to revoke flight permits, which he described as direct interference in matters of national sovereignty.

Beijing's actions violated the principles of sovereign equality and non-interference under the United Nations Charter and also flouted international civil norms under the Convention on International Civil Aviation, Shen argued.

Opposition Kuomintang (KMT) Legislator Hsu Chiao-hsin (徐巧芯) said she had no objection to the substance of the motion and supported the president's right to visit diplomatic allies, but she raised procedural concerns.

Hsu said the meeting was convened to review the Veterans Affairs Council annual budget and that officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were not present to provide input on the motion's wording, as is typically the case.

● TPP slams China over Lai's nixed Eswatini trip; KMT expresses 'regret'

DPP lawmaker Lin Chu-yin (林楚茵) responded that the proposal was stating a position rather than issuing an administrative directive, and was intended to express lawmakers' stance against what she described as China's "bullying."

Wang Ting-yu (王定宇), also of the DPP, said Taiwan's political parties should present a united front in the face of pressure from China, and he accused Beijing of constantly obstructing Taiwan's diplomatic efforts.