00:00Taiwan President Lai Ching-te was forced to postpone a visit to Eswatini, formerly known as Swaziland,
00:06after three African nations refused to allow his aircraft to fly over their territory.
00:12Taipei is accusing Beijing of using pressure and economic coercion on the countries involved,
00:17a move Beijing has denied.
00:21Lai had been due to depart on Wednesday for a five-day trip to Eswatini,
00:26which is the sole African country that maintains official diplomatic ties with Taiwan.
00:32But Seychelles, Mauritius and Madagascar had unilaterally revoked his overflight permits at the last minute.
00:40It marks the first publicly known incident where a Taiwanese leader has had to cancel to an overseas trip
00:46due to revoked permits for a presidential aircraft.
00:50While China has denied any coercion,
00:53it prays to three African countries, saying it had high appreciation for them.
00:58A Madagascar foreign ministry official told Reuters
01:01that its diplomacy only recognizes one China,
01:04the principle in which Beijing asserts sovereignty over Taiwan.
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