Op-Ed: Taiwan the gateway of Somaliland to U.S.

March 27, 2022

Photo: Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Joseph Wu (right) and his Somaliland counterpart Yasin Hagi Mohamoud (left) shake hands after signing an agreement on setting up representative offices in their respective country on Feb 26, 2020 in Taipei City. (Source: Somaliland MFA)

By:Abdirahman Mustafe Ali

On 26 Feb.2020 the government of Somaliland and the government of Taiwan signed a bilateral protocol agreement between the two countries.

This was seen as a forward step for Somaliland diplomacy achievement since Somaliland restored independence from Somalia, Taiwan became the gateway of Somaliland to have international outreach particularly in U.S.A.

The United States and Taiwan enjoy unofficial strong relations, this was another bottom line that sparked the relations and gave it a geopolitical dimension.

Russel Hsiao, pointed out in the global Taiwan institute fortnightly review that stronger relation between Taiwan and Somaliland could provide an opening for closer ties between Somaliland and the U.S.

Immediately after the bilateral agreement, the white house national security council hailed Taiwan- Somaliland relation, in what my seem a great shot for Somaliland-US future relations.

“ great to see Taiwan stepping up its engagement in the East Africa in a time of such tremendous need…”. A tweet from the white house national security council.

The Taibei act “Taiwan allies International protection and enhancement initiative” allows U.S engagement with all the countries that have strong relations with Taiwan.

For this reason, Taiwan-Somaliland relation holds significance and opens a wide window for Somaliand.

In the awake of this, houseforeign committee lead Republican macheal macCaul and other bipartisan house members sent a letter to secretary blinken calling for increased, engagement with somaliland after a delegation led by Muse Bihi the president of somaliland arrived at Washington.

“We write to urge the Biden Administration to consider increasing and deepening engagement with Somaliland on issues of mutual diplomatic, economic, and security interests,” the lawmakers wrote. “Somaliland’s geo-strategic location on the Gulf of Aden, consistent support for democracy, cooperation on countering terrorism, piracy, and other security threats in the region, relations with Taiwan, and growing economic potential warrants that the United States explore additional opportunities to partner with Somaliland.”The chairman of task force a department.

Despite the lack of recognition, Somaliland and Taiwan seems going upward and hides a lot in the future but also to make this meaningful it depends on how somaliland political makers read this and try to bring all advantages that this holds for somaliland.

Reference :

• Taiwan global institute, fortnightly review

• Taibei act of 2019, Congress.gov

• gob- foreignaffairs.house.gov

About the Author

Abdirahman Mustafe Ali , Born in burco somaliland, medical technologist, junior political analyst, focus on youth participation in desicion making, interested in critical philosophy.

You can reach his on twitter : AMostaphaAli