On April 21, 2026, the Republic of China reported that three African countries, the Seychelles, Mauritius, and Madagascar, had at the last minute revoked overflight permissions for the airplane of President Lai Ching-te.
Lai had been about to visit Eswatini, one of the few countries in the world and the only one in Africa that extends diplomatic recognition to the ROC. He eventually managed to make it to Eswatini by avoiding the airspace of the Seychelles, Mauritius, and Madagascar and treating the second attempt as a secret mission.
RightsCon: Zambia
RightsCon 2026, originally scheduled to be held in Lusaka, Zambia from May 5 to 8, 2026, was “postponed,” in effect cancelled, by the Zambian government despite long preparation by conference organizers Access Now, including frequent consultations with state officials. At the last minute, Zambia had been cowed by the People’s Republic of China, which didn’t want anyone from Taiwan to participate in the conference.
Our Ocean Conference: Kenya
Latest: Submitting to CCP pressure, Kenya blocked experts from Taiwan from attending the Our Ocean Conference in Mombasa, Kenya, held June 16 to 18, 2026.
“At the invitation of the Kenyan government, Taiwanese academics traveled to Mombasa on Sunday to attend a preconference academic exchange and present research, the ministry said in a statement. When the academics arrived at the venue, organizers refused to issue entry badges on the grounds that Taiwanese passports are not recognized, the ministry said. The academics had their passports and mobile phones confiscated and were detained for more than 20 hours before being allowed to board a flight and leave the country, the ministry said” (Taipei Times, June 16, 2026).
Solution: Eswatini
As far as I can tell, only one African country is not economically involved at a formal state level with the People’s Republic of China: has borrowed no money from the PRC, has accepted no infrastructure financing by the PRC, does not participate in the PRC’s Belt and Road Initiative—and is not susceptible to the PRC pressure that often attends these involvements. The country is Eswatini. Unless and until this changes, RightsCon, the Our Ocean Conference, and all other conferences seeking an African venue and open to Taiwanese participation should from now on take place in Eswatini.
Conferences to be held outside of Africa that are open to Taiwanese participation should take place only in one of the following states unless and until they drop their diplomatic recognition of the Republic of China and cast their lot with the People’s Republic of China: Belize, Guatemala, Haiti, Paraguay, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, the Marshall Islands, Palau, Tuvalu, Vatican City.
We don’t know for sure that the governments of, say, the United States or Canada would succumb to CCP pressure to prevent Taiwanese from participating in a particular major conference. But until the conference actually happens, we also don’t know for sure that they won’t succumb to such pressure—no matter what this or that government official says up until the last minute it is possible for the CCP to intervene.
