At a regular news conference in Beijing, a spokesperson for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office denied that China had used economic coercion to ensure the flight was blocked, while expressing appreciation for the position and “practice” of those countries in adhering to the one-China principle.

Taiwan had accused China of pressing the Seychelles, Mauritius, and Madagascar to revoke permission for Lai’s aircraft to fly over their territories. He had been due to visit Eswatini this week.

The small southern African nation is one of just a dozen countries to retain formal ties with Chinese-claimed Taiwan. Lai originally planned to leave Taiwan on Wednesday to attend the 40th anniversary celebrations of King Mswati III’s accession.

The move comes a little more than a week after China rolled out new incentives for Taiwan, including the easing of food imports, after opposition leader Cheng Li-wun met president Xi Jinping in Beijing.