Taiwan 's President Lai Ching-te arrived in the African nation of Eswatini on Saturday, announcing the trip on social media. In a post on X, he said that he had arrived in Taiwan's only diplomatic ally in Africa to "affirm our longstanding friendship." "Taiwan will never be deterred by external pressures," Lai added. Lai was to visit Eswatini from April 22-26, but the Taiwanese government was forced to postpone the trip after Seychelles, Mauritius and Madagascar withdrew permission for the president to fly over their territories, which Taipei said was  due to pressure from China . Beijing denied it had applied economic pressure to block Lai's trip, but at the same time said it had "high appreciation" for the three countries' actions . In a separate Facebook post on Saturday, Lai wrote that the visit had been made possible thanks to the careful planning of his diplomatic and national security teams.…