Somalia and Taiwan

How do Somalia and Taiwan relate today?

The Federal Government of Somalia has no official ties with Taiwan. China's embassy in Mogadishu says China recognises the Federal Government as "the only legitimate government representing the entire Somalia, including Somaliland" (Chinese Embassy in Somalia, 24 May 2024).

Taiwan's links in the Somali lands run through Somaliland. Taiwan opened a representative office in Hargeisa on 17 August 2020 (Focus Taiwan, 17 August 2020). Somaliland opened its office in Taipei on 9 September 2020 (France 24, 9 September 2020).

From 30 April 2025, Somalia's Civil Aviation Authority stopped accepting Taiwan-issued passports for entry, exit or transit (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Taiwan, 29 April 2025). Taiwan has told its citizens not to travel to Somalia or Somaliland until the notice is withdrawn (Taiwan MOFA, 2025).

When did contact begin?

Taiwan says it began building relations with Somaliland in 2009 (Taiwan MOFA, 1 July 2020). Somaliland's office in Taipei dates the start of good relations to 2007 (Somaliland Representative Office in Taiwan).

Earlier, in September 2015, Taiwan gave Oceans Beyond Piracy a grant of US$166,000 to set up maritime security centres in five Somali ports (Taiwan MOFA, 10 September 2015). Taiwan's representative to the EU, Tung Kuo-yu, signed the agreement in Brussels (Taiwan MOFA, 2015).

Who are the representatives?

• Allen Chenhwa Lou has been Taiwan's representative in Hargeisa since the office opened; he had been a counsellor at Taiwan's office in Saudi Arabia (Somaliland Representative Office in Taiwan; Taiwan MOFA, Somaliland page).
• Wu Chen-chi served as Taiwan's chargé d'affaires in Somaliland in December 2021 (Taiwan MOFA, 28 December 2021).
• Mohamed Hagi spoke for Somaliland as its representative at the opening of its Taipei office in September 2020 (France 24, 2020).

Taiwan's office is in the Sha'ab area of Hargeisa, on Road No. 1 (Taiwan MOFA, Somaliland page).

Who built the tie?

• Joseph Wu, Taiwan's foreign minister, signed the protocol with Somaliland on 26 February 2020 and announced the offices on 1 July 2020 (Taiwan MOFA, 2020).
• Yasin Haji Mohamoud, Somaliland's foreign minister, signed the protocol in Taipei and met President Tsai Ing-wen (Taiwan MOFA, 2020).
• Tsai Ing-wen, President of Taiwan, received Yasin Haji Mohamoud in February 2020 (Somaliland Representative Office in Taiwan).
• Lai Ching-te, President of Taiwan, welcomed the coast guard deal of July 2025 (Focus Taiwan, 24 July 2025).
• François Chihchung Wu, deputy foreign minister, attended the inauguration of Somaliland's President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi (Irro) on 12 December 2024 as Lai's envoy (Taiwan MOFA, 11 December 2024).
• Rhoda Jama Elmi, Somaliland's deputy foreign minister, received him at Hargeisa airport (Taiwan MOFA, 2024).
• Hassan Mohamed Ali Gafadhi, Somaliland's health minister, signed a COVID-19 vaccine agreement with Taiwan in December 2021 (Taiwan MOFA, 2021).
• Musa Hassan Yousuf, chair of Somaliland's National Electoral Commission, led a delegation to Taipei in January 2024 (Taiwan MOFA, 4 January 2024).
• Omar Shuaib Mohamed, Somaliland's livestock minister, laid the stone for a Taiwanese-led livestock project in Berbera in December 2025 (Somaliland Standard, 26 December 2025).

What agreements have they signed?

All are between Taiwan and Somaliland:

• 26 February 2020: Bilateral protocol to set up representative offices, signed in Taipei (Taiwan MOFA, 2020). The offices have privileges similar to those under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (Somaliland Representative Office in Taiwan).
• 17 August 2020: Agreement on technical cooperation, signed as the Hargeisa office opened (Somaliland Representative Office in Taiwan).
• 27 December 2021: Donation of 150,000 doses of Taiwan's Medigen COVID-19 vaccine (Taiwan MOFA, 2021).
• 24 July 2025: Coast guard cooperation agreement, signed in Taipei (Focus Taiwan, 2025).

Which leaders have visited?

• February 2020: Foreign Minister Yasin Haji Mohamoud in Taipei (Taiwan MOFA, 2020).
• January 2024: Somaliland's electoral commission in Taipei (Taiwan MOFA, 2024).
• May 2024: a Somaliland delegation attended Lai Ching-te's inauguration on 20 May, according to China's embassy (Chinese Embassy in Somalia, 2024).
• 11 to 12 December 2024: Deputy Foreign Minister François Wu in Hargeisa (Taiwan MOFA, 2024).
• July 2025: Somaliland's head of external affairs in Taipei for the coast guard deal (Chinese Embassy in Somalia, 28 July 2025).

How much do they trade?

UN Comtrade lists Taiwan as "Other Asia, not elsewhere specified". Exports from Taiwan to Somalia were US$1.7 million in 2023 and US$3.9 million in 2024 (UN Comtrade, 2023; UN Comtrade, 2024). Imports from Somalia were US$0.4 million in 2024 (UN Comtrade, 2024). Machinery was the largest export in 2024, at US$2.2 million (UN Comtrade, by product).

In December 2025 Central Sky International Trading Co. began building a US$20 million livestock quarantine zone near Berbera port (Somaliland Standard, 2025). It is a joint venture with Saudi and US investors (Somaliland Standard, 2025).

How much aid and money has gone in?

• Health: the Taiwan Root Medical Peace Corps held free clinics in ten regions of Somaliland in January 2020, seeing 2,880 patients (Taiwan MOFA, 2020). TaiwanICDF had trained 23 Somaliland medical workers by then (Taiwan MOFA, 2020).
• Scholarships: three Somaliland students were studying in Taiwan on Taiwan Scholarships in July 2020 (Taiwan MOFA, 2020).
• Vaccines: 150,000 doses of Medigen in December 2021 (Taiwan MOFA, 2021).
• Maritime: US$166,000 for Somali port security centres in 2015 (Taiwan MOFA, 2015).

What about security?

Taiwan's coast guard signed a cooperation agreement with Somaliland's coast guard on 24 July 2025 (Focus Taiwan, 2025). Taiwan has no forces in Somali territory. See Foreign forces in Somalia.

How does Taiwan deal with Somaliland and the member states?

Taiwan describes Somaliland as "an important East African partner" (Taiwan MOFA, 2024). It says the two cooperate in public health, agriculture, information technology and women's empowerment (Taiwan MOFA, 2024). No ties with Puntland, Jubaland or the other member states appear in Taiwan's ministry releases.

Have there been disputes?

The 2020 offices. Each party stated its position:

• Somalia called the move a reckless attempt to undermine its sovereignty (France 24, 2020).
• China accused Taipei of separatism (France 24, 2020).
• Somaliland's representative Mohamed Hagi said: "From Somaliland's perspective we are independent," and that the tie posed no threat to China (France 24, 2020).

The 2025 travel-document ban. Somalia's Civil Aviation Authority told airlines on 22 April 2025 that Taiwan-issued travel documents would not be valid from 30 April (Taiwan MOFA, 2025). It cited the one-China principle and UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 (Taiwan MOFA, 2025).

• Taiwan said: "It demands that the government of Somalia immediately revoke this notification," and rejected Somalia's reading of Resolution 2758 (Taiwan MOFA, 2025).
• China's embassy backed the step and praised Somalia for "upholding the one-China principle" (Chinese Embassy in Somalia, 30 April 2025). It said it "firmly opposes the Taiwan authorities and Somaliland hosting each other's institution" (Chinese Embassy, 2025).

Other exchanges. In March 2025 Taiwan's Hargeisa office said "China has never governed Taiwan for a second"; China's embassy replied that "Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory" (Chinese Embassy, 19 March 2025). In September 2026 the embassy condemned remarks on Taiwan made in the United States by Somaliland's President Irro (Chinese Embassy, 16 September 2026). It said "Somaliland is an inalienable part of Somalia's territory" (Chinese Embassy, 2026).

Where does Taiwan stand in the UN and other bodies on Somalia?

Taiwan is not a UN member. Somalia's aviation notice and China's embassy both cite UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 of 1971 as the basis for their position (Taiwan MOFA, 2025; Chinese Embassy, 2025). Taiwan rejects that reading (Taiwan MOFA, 2025).

Related pages

• Somaliland institutions
• Muse Bihi Abdi
• Foreign forces in Somalia
• Somalia and South Korea