Taiwan says Chinese pressure over the island is the "new normal"

FILE - Fish swim near coral on the ocean bed near Shimoni, Kenya, June 13, 2022. Brian Inganga/AP hide caption

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Attempts by China to exert pressure or influence on other countries to limit Taiwan's access to international events has become "the new normal," the island's foreign minister said Wednesday.

Lin Chia-Lung was speaking after Taiwanese delegates were detained in Kenya and denied access to an ocean conference, reportedly due to Chinese pressure on the organizers, according to Taiwan's Foreign Ministry.

China regards Taiwan, a self-ruled democracy, as a breakaway province and has not renounced the use of force to annex it. In recent months, Beijing has ramped up a campaign of pressuring other countries to limit the access of Taiwanese officials or delegates to various events.

In April, Taiwan's president postponed a planned visit to the African nation of Eswatini after three countries withdrew permission for him to fly over their territories after pressure from China, his office said. He eventually arrived in the African nation days later, on a plane chartered by Eswatini's king.

In the latest incident, two Taiwanese delegates to the international Our Ocean Conference being held in Mombasa were denied access on the grounds that their Taiwanese passports were not recognized, the Foreign Ministry in Taipei said on Tuesday.

Their passports and mobile phones were confiscated and they were detained for more than 20 hours before being allowed to leave the country, the ministry said.

The rest of the Taiwanese delegation withdrew from the conference after the incident.