Taiwan has officially opened its representative office in Hargeisa, the capital of the self-declared state Somaliland on Monday.
The opening ceremony was attended by senior Somaliland officials and Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Jesoph Wu via online.
The moves come weeks after Somaliland appointed representative to be stationed in its mission in Taipei after two unrecognized states agreed to formalize relations.
Hargeisa and Taipei agreed to cooperate in various development sectors including technology.
Officials from the Chinese government who were opposed to the relations were in Hargeisa last week to convince Somaliland against the move but the meeting between President Muse Bihi Abdi and Chinese ambassador to Somalia didn’t bear any fruit.
Somaliland and Taiwan are still considered part and parcel of Somalia and China under the internal law but the two have embarked on a move to lobby for recognition in the past years.
In a statement, the Chinese government vowed to deal with any entity that interferes with its domestic affairs meaning relations with Taipei.
