Somaliland reacts to China’s military drills in Taiwan strait

The Somaliland government has strongly condemned China’s military drills in the Taiwan Strait and reaffirmed its strong stand with Taiwan. In a statement, Somaliland’s foreign affairs ministry said that China’s drills are, in fact, breaking the Taiwan Strait status quo and Somaliland stands strong with Taiwan and is united with fellow democracies.

However, this statement did not please China, its Ambassador to Somalia Fei Shengchao made an immediate response to the matter by telling Somaliland to not make oneself a laughingstock by making “National borders” where there is none. Common sense families don’t draw borders inside a house. He added.

Somaliland and Taiwan established diplomatic relations in July 2020, with the signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in Taipei. The MOU established diplomatic, economic, and cultural ties between the two territories, including the exchange of ambassadors and the establishment of representative offices.

Since then, China firmly opposes the establishment of official institutions or any form of official exchanges between Taiwan and Somaliland and said those going against the trend to challenge the one-China principle will get burned and swallow the bitter fruit.

Early February 2022, Somaliland foreign affairs minister, Essa Kayd said during a trip to Taiwan that China cannot dictate who Somaliland can have relations with as it was a sovereign nation and “born free.”