US House committee calls for Somaliland office to counter China

An influential US-China subcommittee in the US House of Representatives is calling for the State Department to open a representative office in Somaliland, the breakaway state in Somalia, to counter rising Chinese influence in the region.

“Such a move is critical for advancing US strategic interests in the Horn of Africa and countering the growing influence” of China, wrote John Moolenaar, chairman of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, in a letter dated Jan. 15 and addressed to outgoing Secretary of State Antony Blinken. “Without US engagement, [China] may succeed in shifting Somaliland’s interests in its favor, further consolidating its influence in the Red Sea and beyond,” it said.

The United States, along with the rest of the international community, does not recognize Somaliland as a country. Last month Semafor reported that Somaliland will be much closer to being recognized by the US as the world’s newest country when Donald Trump returns to the White House.

The committee chair stressed that the establishment of an office in Somaliland’s capital city of Hargeisa “need not conflict with the United States’ current recognition of the government of Somalia”. It pointed to other nations, “including the United Kingdom, Denmark, Kenya, and Taiwan,” who maintain offices there without formally recognizing Somaliland’s sovereignty.

While foreign affairs committees often send letters to the State Department, this one has significance because it has moved discussions around the future of Somaliland into the much more potent US-China sphere, said Cameron Hudson, an analyst with the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “If the Somaliland issue is embraced by China-hawks to push back against China’s influence then that is a serious departure from past discussions and increases the likelihood that it will be actively pursued,” he said.