Somaliland-Taiwan Alliance: Strategic Asset or National Security Liability?

[Deeq A.]

BREAKING: Somaliland-Taiwan Alliance: Strategic Asset or National Security Liability?

Somaliland’s burgeoning relations with Taiwan, once hailed as a bold diplomatic move, is increasingly becoming a national security liability. While the partnership has garnered international attention, it has also drawn the ire of a global superpower—China. The implications are sobering; a symbolic alliance marked by token gestures like shipments of wheelchairs or sports shoes is hardly worth the risk of provoking a confrontation with a global superpower like China.

China perceives Taiwan’s relationship with Somaliland as a direct threat to its strategic ambitions, particularly the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). This expansive project envisions the development of interconnected sea and land trade routes spanning Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. Somaliland, with its pivotal Berbera port, occupies a highly strategic position on the eastern coast of Africa. An obstructive Somaliland could significantly disrupt the Maritime Silk Road’s continuity, undermining China’s broader goals in the HoA region.

The risks for Somaliland are clear. Without Taiwan providing critical tools to bolster its security—such as advanced weapons systems, cutting-edge surveillance drones, next-generation air defense systems, and comprehensive military training—Somaliland remains vulnerable to pressures from China and its regional proxies like Muqdishu regime, SSC militia’s and Puntland, forces that are already collaborating to destabilise Somaliland Eastern Sool and Sanaag regions.

Taiwan’s symbolic gestures, while politically significant, do little to address the harsh realities of growing regional destabilization fueled by Beijing.

If Taiwan cannot substantiate its presence in Somaliland with tangible security support, then its role in Somaliland must be reassessed by the newly elected administration in Hargeisa. Without concrete investments in Somaliland’s defense capabilities, the alliance risks shifting from a diplomatic triumph to a strategic burden, leaving Somaliland exposed to the wrath of the Chinese Communist Party.

Source inside Africa

Qaran News