After President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud endorsed China’s threats of military action against Taiwan, Taiwan warned Somalia against being “China’s cheerleader” in geopolitical conflicts
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 praising Beijing’s “capacity and military might” to forcibly reunify with Taiwan, a self-governing island democracy.
In a Dec. 21 interview on China Global Television Network marking 65 years of China–Somalia diplomatic relations, Hassan Sheikh echoed language typically reserved for senior Chinese Communist Party officials.
“China has the capacity and military might to bring back Taiwan,” he said, publicly endorsing the possibility of military action against the island.
Taiwan’s Representative Office in Somaliland responded on Dec. 23, underscoring that “the R.O.C. (Taiwan), which governs itself independently and maintains its own democratic institutions, is a sovereign and independent country,” and stressing that neither Taiwan nor China is subordinate to the other. The statement urged Somalia’s leadership to “focus on its national development and other internal priorities, not to be China’s cheerleader in geopolitical competition.”
Somaliland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development did not comment publicly on the remarks. The silence stood out as international attention on Somaliland has grown, particularly in Washington, and as Somalia’s president appeared to validate the use of force to resolve sovereignty disputes—an argument Mogadishu has long asserted against Somaliland, which restored independence in 1991 after the collapse of Somalia’s central state.
By endorsing coercion as a legitimate means to settle Taiwan’s status, Hassan Sheikh implicitly reinforced the same logic Somalia has used to contest Somaliland’s self-rule. “Issuing military threats from Mogadishu against a third party is not diplomacy—it is coercion by proxy,” one regional analyst said.
China’s embassy in Mogadishu swiftly weighed in, releasing a statement titled “Response to Fallacy from an Illegal ‘Office’ in Hargeisa.” The embassy focused its fire on Taiwan rather than defending the Somali president’s remarks, thanking Somalia for upholding the “one-China principle” and repeating Beijing’s claim that Taiwan is “an inalienable part of China’s territory.”
The statement went further, issuing explicit threats. “We will never pledge to renounce the use of force, and we reserve the option of taking all measures necessary,” the embassy said, accusing Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party of pursuing a “secessionist agenda.” Diplomats note that issuing such threats from a host nation’s capital runs counter to long-standing diplomatic norms, which discourage embassies from using their host country’s territory to menace third parties.
Absent from the embassy’s statement was any reference to the financial underpinnings of Somalia’s alignment with Beijing. Somali government announcements and Chinese state media say Hassan Sheikh secured a $28 million grant from President Xi Jinping in September 2024, when the two countries elevated ties to a “strategic partnership,” alongside 1,300 tonnes of food aid and deliveries of military equipment ostensibly earmarked for counterterrorism operations. To Taiwanese officials, the embassy’s rhetoric reinforced their argument that Beijing relies on political coercion and distortive propaganda.
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A Pattern of Alignment
The interview fits a broader pattern of Somali alignment with Chinese strategic objectives in the Horn of Africa, particularly concerning Taiwan’s relationship with Somaliland. In April, Somalia imposed a blanket ban on holders of Taiwanese passports, barring entry, transit and exit through Somali-controlled airspace. The directive, issued by Somalia’s Civil Aviation Authority, cited adherence to the “one-China” policy and a contested reading of U.N. General Assembly Resolution 2758.
Although Somaliland was not a party to the decision, the ban immediately disrupted travel to Hargeisa because Mogadishu controls internationally recognized flight permissions. Following sustained diplomatic pressure—especially from the United States—the ban was later reversed.
When Taiwan’s deputy foreign minister, Wu Chih-chung, attended the December 2024 inauguration of Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdillahi, Beijing dispatched special envoy Xue Bing to Mogadishu. In an interview with Somalia’s state news agency, Xue issued one of China’s bluntest warnings on Taiwan: “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 as an example of Beijing’s “grey-zone tactics” and its use of proxy states to apply pressure without direct confrontation. China has also opposed a memorandum of understanding between Ethiopia and Somaliland that would grant landlocked Ethiopia access to the Red Sea via the port of Berbera, endorsing Somalia’s claim that the deal violated its territorial integrity despite Mogadishu exercising no administrative or security control over Somaliland.
American Support for a Chinese-Aligned Government
Somalia’s tilt toward Beijing has complicated relations with Washington. The United States conducted more than 25 airstrikes in Somalia in 2025 in support of Hassan Sheikh’s government against al-Shabaab, according to data compiled by Airwars and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism. The strikes continued even as Mogadishu publicly aligned itself with Chinese positions on Taiwan and regional geopolitics.
Until recently, the United States also provided $400 monthly salary supplements to Somali security forces and extensive logistical support. Audits later revealed 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.
Competing Partnerships
The contrast with Somaliland’s approach is pronounced. Since opening representative offices in each other’s capitals in 2020, Taiwan and Somaliland have built a partnership rooted in shared democratic values. Taiwan has pledged $22 million for a medical center in Hargeisa, signed energy and mineral cooperation agreements, and offered scholarships for Somaliland military officers.
As the world’s leading producer of advanced semiconductors, Taiwan occupies a central place in global technology supply chains, giving the relationship strategic weight. Somaliland conducts regular multiparty elections and has maintained relative stability. Somalia’s federal government, by contrast, controls little territory beyond Mogadishu, where al-Shabaab operates within roughly 50 kilometers of the presidential palace and controls large swaths of the country, according to U.N. estimates.
Despite those realities, 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 wields significant influence in Somalia, operating a major military base near Mogadishu and training Somali forces. The dual patronage of China and Turkey has raised questions among diplomats about Somalia’s sovereignty and strategic direction.
Ambassador Recalled
Against this backdrop, the Trump administration on Dec. 18 notified U.S. Ambassador to Somalia Richard Riley that he would be recalled effective Jan. 15. Riley was among 29 career diplomats removed from posts worldwide, with Africa disproportionately affected. A State Department official said the move was intended to ensure 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 at odds with stated American interests.
The American Foreign Service Association criticized the recalls as unprecedented, warning that “removing senior diplomats without cause undermines U.S. credibility abroad.”
Riley’s recall raises broader questions about the future of U.S. engagement with Mogadishu. Somalia’s formal recognition by Washington in 2013 was premised on expectations of alignment with American values. Whether the Trump administration is reconsidering that assumption—or contemplating a shift toward recognizing Somaliland, as some Republican lawmakers have urged—remains unclear.
Taiwan’s statement this week left no doubt about Taipei’s assessment. “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.”
