Chinese/Taiwanese rivalry finds new arena in Somalia
Representatives of Somaliland to Taiwan at the opening ceremony of the country’s representative office in Taiwan. Picture: Alamy.com
25 May 2022
China and Somalia have traditionally been staunch partners politically. Economic opportunities and political support have so far driven China’s engagement in Somalia. The recent links between Taiwan and Somaliland, however, is likely to result in friction.
By Eskil Mortensen, Security Analyst Intern
China and Somalia have long maintained a close relationship with each other. Somalia was the first country in East Africa to establish diplomatic relations with China, shortly after their independence in 1960. The country also supported China in their successful bid to obtain a permanent seat in the UN Security Council in 1971, as is often noted by Chinese diplomats. In more recent years, Somalia has also stood by China on controversial issues such as China’s treatment of Uyghurs in Xinjiang and the introduction of the national security law in Hong Kong in 2020.
China’s engagement in Somalia has mostly been of an economic, development or cultural character, although China also delivered non-lethal military aid to Somalia as recently as March 2022. Several natural resources in Somalia have China’s interest. Fishing is a major business in Somalia, which has the longest coastline in continental Africa. China has been investing in the industry both in terms of fishing licenses and a fishing port in Eyl. Somalia is also rich in natural resources that are in demand by Chinese industries. Large oil and gas reserves has been found recently and China has been investing in oil extraction since 2007. Furthermore, Somalia has modest and so far unexploited uranium deposits.
New Taiwan and Somaliland relations
In 2020 Taiwan and Somaliland established political relations with the opening of representative offices in each other countries. The two territories share curiously parallel fates. Although they are self-governed, Taiwan and Somaliland are not fully recognised by the international community – Taiwan is independent only under ‘one country, two systems’ while Somaliland is a state in the Somali federal structure. China and Somalia have vehemently opposed the new-found relations between the two break-away republics.
Taiwan and Somaliland have so far cooperated on energy, agriculture, fishing, mining health care, education and, importantly, maritime security. Although the latter only concerns improving maritime domain awareness and coastguard skills, it will likely be seen by China as a challenge to Somali sovereignty as well as China’s increasing naval presence in the region. It is also in this light that Chinese military aid to Somalia should be viewed. Besides helping a long-time partner in its struggle against the terrorist group Al-Shabab, it also helps to bolster Somalia politically vis-à-vis Somaliland.
The contentious relations between China and Somalia on the one side and Taiwan and Somaliland on the other is bound to cause more friction in the region. It could also affect commercial operations, in particularly in Somaliland. Whereas the engagement by Taiwan could be beneficial for that territory by bringing in investments, it also runs the risk of bringing the Taiwan/China rivalry into an already tumultuous political environment.
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