Taiwan slams Chinese media Report on Somaliland

By: Taiwan News

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) on Monday (Oct. 11) refuted a report by China’s state-run Global Times that claimed Taiwan has been bribing individuals in countries like Somaliland and the U.S. to facilitate bilateral relations.

The Global Times article alleged the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) provided kickbacks to Somaliland politicians in order to promote Taiwan independence abroad. The Chinese publication also accused Taiwan’s representative office in the U.S. of paying U.S. think tanks to issue pro-Taiwan articles.

MOFA vehemently denied these accusations in a press release, saying the entire report was “pulled out of thin air and groundless.”

Since Taiwan and Somaliland mutually set up representative offices in 2020, the governments of the two countries have promoted programs that benefit the people of Somaliland, including agriculture, information communications, education, and medical care, the foreign ministry said. The programs are recognized by all sectors of the East African country and the world for being open, transparent, and legal, MOFA added.

Additionally, many think tanks in Taiwan and the U.S. have had long-term cooperative relationships, and each year they conduct research projects on important issues such as Taiwan-U.S. relations and Taiwan’s international participation, MOFA said. The ministry pointed out these projects are all budgeted and processed under the supervision of the Legislative Yuan, per the press release.

MOFA said the processes are legal and adhere to U.S. government regulations, and do not interfere with academic freedom. It added the projects aim to “enhance the discussion and understanding of Taiwan in the U.S. policy circle.”

The foreign ministry also said these are routine practices of a democratic country and questioned how a totalitarian government could comprehend such motives and concepts.

“A media that creates fake news indiscriminately and slanders and attacks the government of another country can only be done by one affiliated to the shameless totalitarian Chinese government,” MOFA said.