TAIPEI (Reuters) – Somalia has banned entry to Taiwan passport holders citing compliance with a United Nations resolution, the island’s foreign ministry said, blaming Chinese pressure on Mogadishu at a time Taiwan is boosting ties with Somaliland.
Somaliland broke away from Somalia in 1991 but has not gained widespread international recognition for its independence. The region has been mostly peaceful while Somalia has grappled with three decades of civil war.
Taiwan, claimed by China as its own territory and likewise diplomatically isolated, and Somaliland set up representative offices in each other’s capitals in 2020, to the anger of both Mogadishu and Beijing.
In a statement late on Tuesday, Taiwan’s foreign ministry said the Somalia Civil Aviation Authority had last week issued a notice that as of Wednesday, no Taiwanese passports will be accepted for entry to Somalia.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has lodged a solemn protest against the Somali government’s move, instigated by China, to restrict the freedom and security of travel of our nationals, and demands the Somali government immediately revoke the announcement,” it said.
The Somalia Civil Aviation Authority did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent outside of regular business hours in Mogadishu.
China’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The notice has gone to airlines and was given so that Somalia complies with United Nations Resolution 2758, passed in 1971 and which saw the Beijing government take Taipei’s place at the global body, and the “one China” principle, the ministry added.
Taiwan, along with the United States, says the U.N. resolution makes no mention of Taiwan’s status and that China has deliberately misinterpreted it. China says the resolution gives international legal standing to its claims of sovereignty over the democratically governed island.
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Lincoln Feast)
Comments