Taiwan Office Rejects Somalia President’s Remarks as China Tightens Grip on the Horn of Africa

Hassan Sheikh Mohamud praised Beijing’s military might against Taiwan in state media interview as U.S. recalls ambassador

HARGEISA, Somaliland — Taiwan’s representative office in Hargeisa issued a sharp rebuke this week after Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud appeared on Chinese state television to praise Beijing’s “capacity and military might” to forcibly reunify with Taiwan.

The December 21 interview on China Global Television Network—aired to mark 65 years of China–Somalia diplomatic relations—saw Hassan Sheikh endorse potential Chinese military action against the self-governing island democracy. “China has the capacity and military might to bring back Taiwan,” the Somali president said, echoing language typically reserved for Chinese Communist Party officials rather than the leader of a fragile, aid-dependent state.

Taiwan’s Representative Office in Somaliland responded on December 23, stating that “the R.O.C. (Taiwan), which governs itself independently and maintains its own democratic institutions, is a sovereign and independent country,” and that neither Taiwan nor China is subordinate to the other. The statement urged Somalia to “focus on its national development and other internal priorities, not to be China’s cheerleader in geopolitical competition.”

Notably, Somaliland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development also remained silent. At a moment when international attention on Somaliland is rising—particularly in the United States—the ministry issued no statement addressing Somalia’s president publicly endorsing the use of military force to “reunify” a self-governing polity with a stronger central state. The implication was not abstract. By validating force as a legitimate tool to resolve Taiwan’s status, Hassan Sheikh implicitly endorsed the same logic Somalia has long asserted against Somaliland. The ministry’s passivity, in this context, reflected a failure to confront a dangerous precedent: that sovereignty disputes may be settled not by consent or political reality on the ground, but by coercion—precisely the argument Mogadishu has never abandoned with respect to Somaliland.

China’s embassy in Mogadishu released its own statement, titled “Response to Fallacy from an Illegal ‘Office’ in Hargeisa,” focusing primarily on attacking Taiwan rather than defending Hassan Sheikh’s remarks. The embassy thanked Somalia for upholding the “one-China principle” and repeated Beijing’s standard position that Taiwan is “an inalienable part of China’s territory.”

The statement went further, issuing explicit military threats. “We will never pledge to renounce the use of force, and we reserve the option of taking all measures necessary,” the embassy declared, accusing Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party of pursuing a “secessionist agenda in Somalia’s territory.” Issuing such threats against a third party from a host nation’s capital violates long-standing diplomatic norms, which discourage embassies from using their host country’s territory to menace other states.

Notably absent from the embassy’s statement was any mention of the financial arrangements underpinning Somalia’s alignment with Beijing. According to Somali government announcements and Chinese state media releases, Hassan Sheikh secured a $28 million grant from Chinese President Xi Jinping in September 2024 when the two countries elevated relations to a “strategic partnership,” along with 1,300 tonnes of food aid and deliveries of military equipment ostensibly intended for counterterrorism operations. The embassy’s resort to open threats appeared to validate Taiwan’s description of Beijing’s approach as political coercion and distortive propaganda.

A Pattern of Alignment

The interview is the latest example of Somalia’s alignment with Chinese strategic objectives in the Horn of Africa, particularly regarding Taiwan’s relationship with Somaliland.

In April, Somalia imposed a blanket ban on holders of Taiwanese passports, barring them from entry, transit, and exit through Somali-controlled airspace. The directive, issued by Somalia’s Civil Aviation Authority, cited adherence to the so-called “one-China” policy and a contested interpretation of UN General Assembly Resolution 2758. Although Somaliland was not party to the decision, the ban had immediate practical effects on travel to Hargeisa because Mogadishu controls internationally recognized flight permissions. Following sustained diplomatic pressure—particularly from the United States—the ban was later reversed.

When Taiwan’s deputy foreign minister Wu Chih-chung attended Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdillahi’s inauguration in December 2024, China dispatched special envoy Xue Bing to Mogadishu. In an interview with Somalia’s state news agency, Xue issued one of Beijing’s most aggressive warnings on the Taiwan issue: “We will not leave them alone if anyone dares to do anything to sabotage the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of China.”

Taiwan’s foreign ministry condemned the remarks immediately, describing them as an example of Beijing’s “grey-zone tactics” and its use of proxy states to exert diplomatic pressure without direct confrontation.

China has also opposed the memorandum of understanding between Ethiopia and Somaliland that would grant landlocked Ethiopia access to the Red Sea via the port of Berbera. Beijing endorsed Somalia’s claim that the agreement violated its territorial integrity, despite Somalia exercising no administrative, security, or judicial control over Somaliland’s territory.

American Support for a Chinese-Aligned Government

This alignment has created an increasingly awkward situation for Washington. The United States conducted more than 25 airstrikes in Somalia in 2025 to support Hassan Sheikh’s government in its campaign against al-Shabaab, according to data compiled by Airwars and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism. These strikes continued even as Mogadishu publicly aligned itself with Chinese positions on Taiwan and regional geopolitics.

Until recently, during the latter Trump administration period, the U.S. provided $400 monthly salary supplements to Somali security forces along with extensive logistical support. Audits later exposed what American officials described as padded requisitions and widespread misuse of funds, prompting cuts in assistance. As U.S. backing declined, Somali forces struggled to hold territory. In April, elite Danab units abandoned a base at Adan Yabal during an al-Shabaab offensive, leaving behind American-supplied weapons and equipment.

Competing Partnerships

The contrast with Somaliland’s approach is stark. Since establishing representative offices in each other’s capitals in 2020, Taiwan and Somaliland have cultivated a partnership rooted in shared democratic values. Taiwan has committed $22 million to construct a medical center in Hargeisa, signed energy and mineral cooperation agreements, and provided scholarships for Somaliland military officers. As the world’s leading producer of advanced semiconductors, Taiwan occupies a central position in global technology supply chains—underscoring the strategic weight of the relationship.

Somaliland, which declared independence from Somalia in 1991 but remains unrecognized internationally, conducts regular multiparty elections and maintains internal stability. By contrast, Hassan Sheikh’s government controls little territory beyond Mogadishu, where al-Shabaab operates within roughly 50 kilometers of the presidential palace. The militant group controls large swathes of the country—by some UN estimates, a majority of Somalia’s territory. Despite this reality, Hassan Sheikh has pledged to hold “one-person, one-vote” elections in 2026, the first since 1967. Puntland and Jubaland, two federal member states, have rejected the plan and no longer recognize federal authority.

Turkey also maintains significant influence in Somalia, operating a military base near Mogadishu and training Somali forces. The dual patronage of China and Turkey has raised growing questions about Somalia’s sovereignty, according to diplomats familiar with the situation who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Ambassador Recalled

On December 18, the Trump administration notified U.S. Ambassador to Somalia Richard Riley that he would be recalled effective January 15. Riley was among 29 career diplomats removed from posts worldwide, with Africa disproportionately affected: Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Gabon, Ivory Coast, Madagascar, Mauritius, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Somalia, and Uganda all lost ambassadors.

A State Department official described the move as part of ensuring ambassadors “advance the America First agenda.” For Somalia, the timing was pointed. The government has accepted billions of dollars in U.S. military assistance while aligning itself with Chinese strategic objectives and, until recently, enforcing a ban on Taiwanese passport holders—policies that run counter to stated American interests in the region.

The American Foreign Service Association criticized the recalls as unprecedented. “Removing senior diplomats without cause undermines U.S. credibility abroad,” the organization said.

For Somalia, Riley’s recall raises deeper questions about the future of U.S. engagement with a government that receives American military support while advancing Beijing’s diplomatic agenda. Somalia’s formal recognition by the United States in 2013—granted when Hillary Clinton served as secretary of state under President Obama—was premised on the expectation of a partner aligned with American values. Whether the Trump administration is reconsidering that assumption, or preparing to pivot toward recognizing Somaliland as some Republican lawmakers have urged, remains unclear.

Taiwan’s statement this week left little ambiguity about how Taipei views Mogadishu’s trajectory. “We will continue to work with diplomatic allies and like-minded nations to jointly preserve regional and global democracy, peace, and stability,” the representative office said, “regardless of political coercion, diplomatic suppression, and distortive propaganda orchestrated by the Chinese Communist Party regime.”