22/04/2026
SEYCHELLES HAS ABANDONED ITS FOUNDING PRINCIPLE:
SUM CONDEMNS THE DR. HERMINIE GOVERNMENT'S SURRENDER TO BEIJING
The Seychelles United Movement (SUM) strongly condemns the decision by the administration of President Dr. Patrick Herminie to revoke overflight permission for the presidential aircraft of Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te, as reported by Reuters and multiple international media outlets on 21 April 2026. This decision, taken alongside Mauritius and Madagascar under intense pressure from Beijing, marks a historic and damaging departure from one of Seychelles’ most sacred political principles.
Friends with All, Enemies of None. Abandoned
Since independence, the Republic of Seychelles has operated under the foreign policy doctrine of Friends with All, Enemies of None. This doctrine was not a slogan. It was a survival strategy, a moral compass, and a sovereign identity, championed above all by our founding father, France-Albert René.
France-Albert René guided this nation through the most dangerous geopolitical moment of the 20th century, the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union , without surrendering Seychelles to either camp. Seychelles survived and prospered in that era precisely because it refused to be pawns. René understood that. He protected Seychelles' dignity by keeping us independent of every power bloc.
What Happened and Why It Matters.
Taiwan's president was travelling to Eswatini, Africa's last remaining diplomatic ally of Taipei, for the 40th anniversary of King Mswati III's accession. This was a routine diplomatic transit. Taiwan's presidential aircraft had the right to request overflight permission. Seychelles revoked that permission without prior warning.
Taiwan's presidential office has stated clearly that the revocations by Seychelles, Mauritius, and Madagascar were the result of strong pressure from Chinese authorities, including economic coercion. A senior Taiwan security official told Reuters that China threatened economic sanctions including the revoking of debt relief on these nations.
SUM notes clearly, we take no position on the dispute between China and Taiwan over sovereignty. That is a matter between China and Taiwan. It is not Seychelles' conflict to adjudicate or to be weaponised in. What we oppose absolutely is our government capitulating to Beijing's demand that we become its enforcer in the Indian Ocean.
It is President Dr. Patrick Herminie who has now shattered this doctrine. Under his watch, for the first time in the history of independent Seychelles, our government has allowed itself to be used as an instrument of a foreign power’s coercive foreign policy.
President Dr. Patrick Herminie has failed the Seychellois people. Since taking office, he has been actively courting Beijing approaching China repeatedly for financial support, seeking to remain in good standing, and positioning Seychelles as a compliant partner in pursuit of loans, investments, and favour. This decision to revoke Taiwan’s overflight permission is the direct consequence of that posture. When you spend your presidency seeking Beijing’s goodwill, you eventually pay the price Beijing demands. This is not neutrality. This is political clientelism dressed up as diplomacy.
France-Albert René balanced superpower interests at a time when gunboat diplomacy was not metaphorical. He managed relations with Washington, Moscow, and Beijing simultaneously without ever allowing Seychelles to become a satellite of any one of them. President Dr. Herminie has done in one covert act of appeasement what decades of principled leadership refused to do.
The fact that the Seychelles government has declined to comment publicly on the revocation makes matters worse. Our government owes the Seychellois people a full explanation of what pressure was applied, by whom, and what assurances if any were received in return.
SUM's Demands
1. President Dr. Patrick Herminie’s government must make a full public statement explaining the decision to revoke Taiwan’s overflight permission.
2. The National Assembly must demand accountability: was this decision made by Cabinet, by the President alone, or under foreign direction?
3. The government must reaffirm in writing and in action the Seychelles' founding doctrine of Friends with All, Enemies of None.
4. Seychelles must never again allow itself to be coerced into acting as a proxy for any foreign power, whether China, the United States, or any other.
