Somaliland has a right to choose its own relationships and pressure tactics from Beijing and Mogadishu have not succeeded in altering its friendship with Taipei, its top diplomat in Taiwan said on Friday at the opening of a new office.
Strategically situated on the Horn of Africa, Somaliland has enjoyed effective autonomy and relative peace and stability, since 1991, when it broke away from Somalia as that country descended into civil war.
Somaliland and Taiwan, claimed by China as its own territory and likewise diplomatically isolated, set up representative offices in each other’s capitals in 2020.
Speaking to reporters at the opening, Somaliland’s representative to Taiwan, Mahmoud Adam Jama Galaal, said the island was a “very important ally”.
Asked about Beijing and Mogadishu wanting Somaliland to end those ties, Galaal said its main political parties were united in not succumbing to political pressure.
“We have the right to choose who we have relationships with. It’s our prerogative, and so it hasn’t been successful as far as pressure tactics,” Galaal said, saying his government has not had any communication with China recently.
Taiwan says it has a right to engage with other countries and that Beijing has no legal basis to claim the island or represent it on the international stage.
–Reuters–
