00:00Taiwan President Lai Ching-te arrived home from Eswatini, saying the country will not give in to pressure from China.
00:08He made his comments after taking an indirect route over the southern part of the Indian Ocean to avoid airspace
00:14control by countries closely aligned with Beijing.
00:18Lai said that the Taiwanese people have the right to engage with the world and will not retreat in the
00:24face of suppression.
00:25The Chinese government last week likened Lai to a rat for what they described as a skulking visit to Eswatini.
00:35Eswatini is one of just 12 nations and the only one in the African region to hold formal diplomatic ties
00:41with Taiwan.
00:42Neither government had made announcements prior to Lai's trip, and in defiance of Beijing's objections, Lai traveled on Eswatini's king
00:51private plane.
00:53Lai's aircraft left Eswatini on Monday, taking a long route over the bottom part of the Indian Ocean, avoiding Mauritius
01:00and Madagascar, which both have deep economic and diplomatic ties with Beijing.
01:05The aircraft then flew over Australia's Christmas Island, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines before entering Taiwan airspace.
01:14Lai's government say China had forced three Indian Ocean states, the Seychelles, Mauritius and Madagascar, to deny overflight permission for
01:23its aircraft when he had planned to visit Eswatini last month.
01:26China views democratically-governed Taiwan as part of its territory with no right to state-to-state ties, a position
01:33Taiwan's government strongly disputes.
01:36Beijing has also demanded countries to stop any engagements with the island.
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