Taiwan and Somaliland are to establish representative offices in each other’s countries, after signing a treaty in Taipei in February, Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) announced yesterday.
The two nations have agreed to establish a “Taiwan Representative Office” and “Somaliland Representative Office,” Wu told a news conference in Taipei, after Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) a day earlier shared a foreign media report that Somaliland President Muse Bihi Abdi has appointed a representative to Taiwan.
Taiwan maintains diplomatic ties with 15 countries, with Eswatini being its only ally in Africa.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
Somaliland, which is on the Horn of Africa and has a population of nearly 3.9 million, does not have formal relations with China.
This is not the first time that a representative office has used the name “Taiwan,” which was gladly received by Somaliland, Wu said, adding that the name “Republic of China” was not used because formal ties have not been established.
Taiwan has not set any limits on what form bilateral relations should take, and both sides finally agreed that representative offices would best reflect their interests, Wu said, adding that discussions began at the end of last year.
He and Somaliland Minister of Foreign Affairs Yasin Hagi Mohamoud Faraton on Feb. 26 signed a treaty at a ceremony in Taipei, after which Faraton also met with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), Wu said.
The treaty is named the “Bilateral Protocol between and by the Government of the Republic of China (Taiwan) and the Government of the Republic of Somaliland,” the ministry said.
While the exact dates for the offices’ launches are still to be negotiated, Taiwan has since Feb. 6 sent officials to Somaliland to make preparations, he said.
Both sides would collaborate in areas such as agriculture, education, energy, fisheries, health, information and communications, and mining, he added.
Asked if Taiwan recognizes Somaliland as an independent country, as the East African country is not recognized by the UN, Wu said that eight countries or global organizations, including Canada, Denmark, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Turkey, the EU, the UK and the UN, have established representative agencies there.
Somaliland also has representative offices in 22 countries, he said, adding that Taiwan’s measure is no different from that of other countries.
“Somaliland has been independent since 1991 and has held three presidential elections,” Wu said.
It is also recognized by many other countries as a democratic and uncorrupt nation, he added.
Somaliland, which is in northwestern Somalia, in 1991 declared independence from the latter.
Taiwan has since 2009 gradually developed positive relations with Somaliland, with bilateral collaborations focusing on boosting maritime security, medicine and health, and education, Wu said.
Both sides would appoint a senior diplomat and four officers for each new office, Wu said, but withheld the officials’ names.
Yen Chen-shen (嚴震生), a research fellow at National Chengchi University’s Institute of International Relations and an expert on African politics, said that it is a positive development for Taiwan, but the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should have established formal ties with Somaliland in one swoop.
Establishing a representative office does not necessarily lead to establishing formal ties, he added.
While the office might be of “very limited” help in expanding relations with other African nations, given China’s influence on the continent, it symbolizes that “at least we are fighting back,” he said.
US PUBLICATION: The results indicated a change in attitude after a 2023 survey showed 55 percent supported full-scale war to achieve unification, the report said More than half of Chinese were against the use of force to unify with Taiwan under any circumstances, a survey conducted by the Atlanta, Georgia-based Carter Center and Emory University found. The survey results, which were released on Wednesday in a report titled “Sovereignty, Security, & US-China Relations: Chinese Public Opinion,” showed that 55.1 percent of respondents agreed or somewhat agreed that “the Taiwan problem should not be resolved using force under any circumstances,” while 24.5 percent “strongly” or “somewhat” disagreed with the statement. The results indicated a change in attitude after a survey published in “Assessing Public Support for (Non)Peaceful Unification
The CIA has a message for Chinese government officials worried about their place in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) government: Come work with us. The agency released two Mandarin-language videos on social media on Thursday inviting disgruntled officials to contact the CIA. The recruitment videos posted on YouTube and X racked up more than 5 million views combined in their first day. The outreach comes as CIA Director John Ratcliffe has vowed to boost the agency’s use of intelligence from human sources and its focus on China, which has recently targeted US officials with its own espionage operations. The videos are “aimed at
‘MISGUIDED EDICT’: Two US representatives warned that Somalia’s passport move could result in severe retaliatory consequences and urged it to reverse its decision Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) has ordered that a special project be launched to counter China’s “legal warfare” distorting UN Resolution 2758, a foreign affairs official said yesterday. Somalia’s Civil Aviation Authority on Wednesday cited UN Resolution 2758 and Mogadishu’s compliance with the “one China” principle as it banned people from entering or transiting in the African nation using Taiwanese passports or other Taiwanese travel documents. The International Air Transport Association’s system shows that Taiwanese passport holders cannot enter Somalia or transit there. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) protested the move and warned Taiwanese against traveling to Somalia or Somaliland
SECURITY: Grassroots civil servants would only need to disclose their travel, while those who have access to classified information would be subject to stricter regulations The government is considering requiring legislators and elected officials to obtain prior approval before traveling to China to prevent Chinese infiltration, an official familiar with national security said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) in March announced 17 measures to counter China’s growing infiltration efforts, including requiring all civil servants to make trips to China more transparent so they can be held publicly accountable. The official said that the government is considering amending the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) to require all civil servants to follow strict regulations before traveling to China.
RSS