ANALYSIS / Lai's canceled Africa trip a 'wake-up call' for world: Experts

Washington, April 23 (CNA) President Lai Ching-te's (賴清德) aborted trip to Eswatini, allegedly due to pressure from China, should serve as a warning about Beijing's "kindness," two United States-based experts said.

Lai had been scheduled to visit Eswatini from Wednesday to Saturday, but on the eve of his departure the Presidential Office said the trip was "suspended" after the Seychelles, Mauritius and Madagascar unexpectedly withdrew overflight permission.

According to Reuters, however, both the Seychelles and Madagascar later said they had never granted overflight permission for Lai's charter flight, citing their adherence to the "one China" policy.

Bonnie Glaser, managing director of the Indo-Pacific Program at the German Marshall Fund, told CNA: "This should be a wakeup call for countries around the world."

"China's friendship and largess comes with strings attached," she said via email.

Taiwan should therefore focus on being a reliable partner wherever possible, Glaser said, while Washington should follow past practice and arrange for Lai to transit through the U.S. when opportunities arise to visit Taiwan's diplomatic allies.

Meanwhile, former American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Chairman Richard C. Bush said such interference in Taiwan's diplomacy is part of a coercion campaign China has pursued since the ruling Democratic Progressive Party took power in 2016.

"Fortunately, a trip by a very senior Taiwan official to the United States does not require overflight permission, with the possible exception of flights from Japan," said Bush, now a nonresident senior fellow at the Center for Asia Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution.

"But Tokyo would not submit to this kind of pressure," he said.

At an impromptu press conference on Tuesday, Presidential Office Secretary-General Pan Men-an (潘孟安) said the latest trip was suspended due to China's "economic coercion."

The visit to Africa would have been Lai's second overseas trip since he assumed office in May 2024. He previously toured diplomatic allies in the Pacific in late 2024, visiting the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu and Palau, with transit stops in the U.S. state of Hawaii and the U.S. territory of Guam.

Pan did not say whether the trip would be rescheduled.