Somaliland’s Intransigence Facilitates Common USA-China Stance Over Maritime Memorandum of Understanding

[Deeq A.]

President Biden and President Xi in 2023. Photo credit: AP

Mogadishu (PP News Desk) — The maritime Memorandum of Understanding signed in Addis Ababa in January 2024 by the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Abiy Ahmed, and Somaliland administration President, Muse Bihi Abdi, did not receive a warm welcome from superpowers. The United States made its position clear on the sovereignty of the Federal Republic of Somalia in line with the 1960 borders. China expressed similar support for the political and territorial integrity of Somalia.

Neither Abiy nor Bihi foresaw the consequences of forging an alliance of convenience based on access to the sea for landlocked Ethiopia and diplomatic recognition for the Somaliland administration in an attempt to consummate its unilateral secession from Somalia in 1991. The unexpected outcome of the maritime MoU is the common position of the United States and China on the sovereignty of Somalia.

Angered by the diplomatic intransigence of the Somaliland administration’s ties with Taiwan, China increased its economic and diplomatic assistance to Somalia. The perception that the Somaliland administration is a rogue entity that does not seem keen on respecting international norms is gaining ground. Western donor countries have supported Somalia-Somaliland talks on the principle that Somalis will have ownership of the discussions, but the invitation of Taiwan into a part of Somalia as an ally of an African secessionist administration has isolated the Somaliland administration.

Although Taiwan is an ally of the United States, African Union member states will no longer turn a blind eye to Taipei’s diplomatic ties with Somaliland administration in violation of Somalia’s sovereignty. “China has lobbied many African countries, including Ethiopia, to stand by Somalia in its right to defend its sovereignty against secession or annexation,” said a diplomat at the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa.

“China is a superpower and a friend of Somalia. The one-China policy is upheld throughout the world as a cardinal aspect of the post-World War II order. Taiwan damages the reputation of the Somaliland administration,” argued a journalist in Hargeisa.”

© Puntland Post, 2024

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