Somalia prohibited Taiwanese passport holders on Wednesday to enter the country, in a movement that blamed the authorities in Taiwan for the increasing Chinese pressure on the Horn or Africa Nation.
The Somali government is fighting for a decades of independence movement in Somaliland, A separate territory in the north of the country This has deepened its ties with Taiwan in recent years, which causes indignation in both Somalia and China.
Somaliland stated independence of Somalia in 1991 after the collapse of the central government in Mogadishu, but it is not recognized by any government.
In a memo, a copy of which was obtained by the New York Times, Somali authorities mentioned compliance with the resolution 2758 of the United Nations, a measure adopted in 1971 that the People’s Republic of China recognizes as the only worldwide Chinese authority. The resolution does not state the status of the sovereignty of Taiwan, but Beijing has long said that the resolution gives full control over the island.
The memo, dated April 22, is also called the ‘unauthorized establishment’ of Taiwan’s Representative Office in Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland, a ‘clear violation of the sovereignty of Somalia’.
The decision to ban Taiwanese passport holders came five days before Taiwan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs was planned to visit the territory, said that a senior Somaliland officer spoke about the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters. Last week, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Taiwan, Lin Chia-Lung, Visited EswatiniThe small South African kingdom that is the only country on the continent that the island formally recognizes.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Taiwan called on Somalia to reverse the travel ban “immediately” and insisted on not traveling to Somalia or Somaliland until it had done that.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Somaliland, Abdirahman Dahir Adam, called the ban “unhappy” and “alarming.”
“Air traffic control may not be politized in any way,” he said in a telephone interview with The Times.
China welcomed the decision of Somalia. It was a “legitimate measure” to protect the “sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country”, Guo Jiakun, a spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said at a news conference On Wednesday. Mr. Guo added that Taiwan was an “inalienable” part of China.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Somalia did not immediately respond to a request for comments.
The announcement on Wednesday was not the first time that Somalia had imposed similar travel restrictions. Last year, the authorities in Mogadishu refused access to an aircraft that transported Ethiopian officials in the midst of tensions A port deal between Somaliland and Ethiopia.
Beijing continues to expand its influence in Africa and isolate Taiwan in this. China has used are political And economic To push governments Serious tires With taipei.
Somaliland has recently moved Court of the Trump government After years of developing ties with Republican legislators and conservative think tanks.
In 2020, Taiwan opened an office In Hargeisa and appointed an ambassador. Somaliland too sent A representative of Taiwan.
Taiwan then supported the urge of Somaliland for recognition, trained his army, offered fairs to students, delivered medical equipment and funded roads. Senior Taiwanese officials have also visited Somaliland, including the deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, who the presidential inauguration attended In December.
“Our history and our ambitions have bound our hand in hand,” said ambassador Allen C. Lou van Taiwan last month in an interview with The Times in Hargeisa.
Somalia regards the growing relationship between Taiwan and Somaliland as a challenge for his territorial integrity.
This month, the Prime Minister of Somalia paid a milestone visit For Las Anod, a city in a disputed region in the southeast of Somaliland. Since 2023, Somaliland has been fighting local armed militias for control over the city, leading to widespread relocation and hundreds of deaths and injuries, according to law groups, care providers and doctors.
Amnesty International has accused Somaliland’s security forces of without distinction describing, killing and injury of citizens in Las Anod. The government has denied Deliberately damage citizens.
China has provided help To the disputed region by Somalia, a decision that Taiwanese officials say and some experts are aimed at disturbing Somaliland and weakening political status. Beijing has also put on his messages against Hargeisa; has his ambassador in Mogadishu meeting regularly with Senior Somali officials.
Experts said that the decision of Somalia to block Taiwanese passport holders signals more problems for us. “The ban gives one of the most complicated and unsolved issues of the Horn of Africa, that of Somalia and Somaliland, a global geopolitics element,” said Moustafa Ahmad, a researcher in China and Taiwan relocations with countries in the Africa region.
Amy Chang Chien Bring reporting from Taipei, Taiwan.
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