Taipei, April 25 -- Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has strongly criticised Beijing after Chinese officials dismissed the existence of the Republic of China (ROC) presidency, escalating tensions following the cancellation of President William Lai's planned trip to Africa, as reported by The Taipei Times.

According to The Taipei Times, Lai had been scheduled to travel to Eswatini, Taiwan's only diplomatic partner in Africa, earlier this week. However, the visit was abruptly scrapped after Seychelles, Mauritius and Madagascar withdrew overflight permissions for his chartered aircraft at short notice.

Presidential Office Secretary-General Pan Men-an attributed the disruption to what he described as "intense pressure" from China, in...