Somalia has barred Taiwanese passport holders from entering the country, the self-governing island’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday, blaming Chinese pressure on the African country as Taipei forges stronger ties with the breakaway territory of Somaliland.
The enclave of about five million people declared independence from Somalia in 1991 after the collapse of the central government in Mogadishu. But despite having its own government, currency and institutions, Somaliland has not been widely recognized by governments internationally, making it difficult for it to sign trade and security agreements or control its airspace.
In recent years, Somaliland has deepened diplomatic relations with Taiwan, causing outrage in Somalia and China as it has resisted Beijing’s attempts to expand its influence in Africa. Somaliland is now courting the Trump administration for diplomatic recognition after years of building relationships with Republican lawmakers and conservative research organizations.
The decision to bar Taiwanese passport holders comes days after the island’s foreign minister visited Eswatini, the tiny southern African kingdom and its only remaining diplomatic ally on the continent.
Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday that the Somali Civil Aviation Authority had notified airline operators last week that its passport holders would not be allowed to “enter, exit and transit” Somalia starting on Wednesday.
The foreign ministry said that Somali authorities cited compliance with United Nations Resolution 2758, a measure passed in 1971 that recognized the People’s Republic of China as the only legitimate Chinese representative at the United Nations. The resolution does not mention Taiwan’s sovereignty status. Beijing claims Taiwan as its territory, and has said the resolution gives it legal status over the island.
Taiwan’s foreign ministry called on Somalia to reverse the travel ban decision “immediately”and urged its nationals not to travel to Somalia or Somaliland until it does so.
China welcomed Somalia’s decision, saying it was a “legitimate measure” to safeguard the country’s “sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Guo Jiakun, a spokesman for China’s Foreign Ministry, said at a news conference on Wednesday. Mr. Guo added that Taiwan was an “inalienable” part of China.
Somalia’s civil aviation authority did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and officials with Somaliland’s government did not respond to requests for comment.
It was not the first time Somalia has imposed restrictions on Somaliland’s airspace. Last year, the authorities in Mogadishu refused entry to a plane carrying Ethiopian officials amid tensions over a port deal between Somaliland and Ethiopia.
Somalia’s decision to block Taiwanese passport holders is another win for China, observers say, as Beijing looks to expand its influence in Africa and isolate Taiwan diplomatically. Across the continent, China has leveraged its political and economic power to push governments to switch their diplomatic recognition to Beijing from Taipei.
In 2020, Taiwan opened an office in Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland, and appointed an ambassador to the enclave. Somaliland also sent a representative to Taiwan, providing both sides with a means to foster closer ties and support each other in the face of international challenges.
Taiwan subsequently backed Somaliland’s push to be recognized as an independent country, trained its military, provided educational scholarships to students, supplied medical equipment and funded road construction. Senior Taiwanese officials have also visited the enclave, including the deputy foreign minister, who attended the presidential inauguration in December.
“Our histories and our aspirations have tied us hand in hand,” Ambassador Allen C. Lou of Taiwan said in an interview with The New York Times in Hargeisa last month.
Somalia views the growing relationship between Taiwan and Somaliland as a challenge to its claim over the enclave and its territorial integrity.
This month, Somalia’s prime minister made a landmark visit to Las Anod city, in the disputed region of Sool in the southeastern part of Somaliland. Since 2023, Somaliland’s military and armed, clan-based militias have been fighting for control of the city, leading to hundreds of deaths and injuries, according to rights groups, aid workers and doctors. Amnesty International has accused Somaliland’s security forces of indiscriminately shelling, killing and injuring civilians in Las Anod. The government has denied deliberately harming civilians.
China has provided aid to the disputed region through Somalia, a decision that Taiwanese officials and some experts say is aimed at unsettling Somaliland and weakening its political standing. Beijing has also ratcheted up its messaging against Hargeisa, and its ambassador in Mogadishu has been meeting regularly with senior Somali officials.
But experts said that Somalia’s decision to block Taiwanese passport holders signals that more trouble is likely. “The ban gives one of the Horn of Africa’s most complicated and unresolved issues, that of Somalia and Somaliland, a global geopolitical element,” said Moustafa Ahmad, a researcher on China and Taiwan relations with countries in the Horn of Africa region.
Amy Chang Chien contributed reporting from Taipei, Taiwan.
Content Source: www.nytimes.com