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<\/p>\nOTTAWA \u2014 As Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te begins his African state visit \u2014 a trip Beijing attempted to thwart by strong-arming world civil aviation authorities \u2014 officials suggest China\u2019s frantic opposition to such trips is an example of the communist state\u2019s growing anxiety over democratic nations having ties with Taiwan.<\/p>\n
In an interview with the Toronto Sun, Taiwan\u2019s de facto Ambassador to Canada Harry Tseng said Lai\u2019s trip to Eswatini was an important visit to a nation that recognizes Taiwan diplomatically \u2014 a short list that does not include Canada.<\/p>\n
\u201cA visit to a friendly country should not be politicized,\u201d Tseng said, saying the meeting with Eswatini King Mswati III was meant celebrate nearly 60 years of diplomatic relations with the African nation.<\/p>\n
\u201cChina should not politicize the visit of President Lai to our diplomatic allies.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Harry Tseng, Taiwan\u2019s ambassador to Canada, in his Ottawa office on Friday, Nov. 15 2024.<\/p>\n
Permissions to cross airspace rescinded<\/p>\n
Late last month, the president\u2019s trip was abruptly cancelled after the Indian Ocean nations of Seychelles, Mauritius and Madagascar \u2014 which all sit along the flight path of the president\u2019s aircraft \u2014 rescinded previously granted permissions for Lai to cross their airspace.<\/p>\n
Taiwan accused China of strong-arming the nations to revoke the clearances, allegedly \u201cweaponizing\u201d civil aviation to intimidate Taiwan and its allies.<\/p>\n
While Beijing denied the charges, they praised the three nations for having \u201chigh appreciation\u201d of China \u2014 and also condemned Lai as a \u201crat.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chinese envoy\u2019s interview came shortly after Sun article<\/p>\n
About a week after the Toronto Sun\u2019s article on the cancellation<\/a>, China\u2019s Ambassador to Canada Wang Di sat down with The Globe and Mail\u2019s Steven Chase, where the ambassador issued stark warnings<\/a> concerning Canada\u2019s friendly relations with Taiwan.<\/p>\n \u201cIf these parliamentarians conduct any official engagement with the Taiwan side, that will be hurtful \u2026 any official engagement between China and Canada should only happen between the People\u2019s Republic of China and Canada,\u201d Wang told the newspaper.<\/p>\n \u201cSending warships through the Taiwan Strait and doing harassment and even provocation, of course, that is in violation of the One China principle and that also violates China\u2019s territorial integrity.\u201d<\/p>\n Beijing\u2019s One China policy dismisses Taiwan\u2019s sovereignty, describing the island nation as a renegade state and maintains it as an immutable part of China.<\/p>\n After China\u2019s nationalist government fell to the communist revolution in 1949, nearly two million civilians, troops and officials of Chiang Kai-shek\u2019s Kuomintang government fled to Taiwan to establish the \u201cRepublic of China\u201d \u2014 Taiwan\u2019s official designation.<\/p>\n Wang also warned that Canada\u2019s renewed relations with the communist superpower could be \u201cdamaged\u201d if MPs continue to visit Taiwan.<\/p>\n RECOMMENDED VIDEOTaiwan makes Beijing nervous, Tseng said<\/p>\n Canadian warships periodically participate in transits of the Taiwan Strait as a freedom-of-navigation exercise, most recently in September when the HMCS Ville de Quebec and Australian destroyer HMAS Brisbane<\/a> sailed the disputed waters.<\/p>\n To the chagrin of neighbouring nations, China has embarked on an increasingly belligerent campaign of construction and militarization of artificial islands in the South China Sea, summarily claiming large swaths of the strategic waters and harassing civilian fishing vessels from Vietnam and the Philippines for operating within their own sovereign waters.<\/p>\n Tseng said diplomatic nations need to stand together to condemn China\u2019s actions.<\/p>\n \u201cIntimidating democracies reveals China\u2019s growing anxiety,\u201d Tseng said, adding he hopes parliamentarians won\u2019t be swayed from aligning with or visiting Taiwan \u2014 particularly in light of Canada\u2019s renewed relations with China and Canada\u2019s reimagined Indo-Pacific strategy.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no better way than visiting Taiwan to understand the geopolitical situation in that part of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n Ceding foreign policy to Beijing?<\/p>\n