After months of diplomatic setbacks, Taiwan's president urged her foreign minister to find a creative solution to the problem. He found a surprising answer in a small, unrecognised African nation.
"It's a secret," smiles Allen C Lou, when asked how many Taiwanese personnel are based in Hargeisa, capital of the unrecognised state of Somaliland in the Horn of Africa.
It was a bitter blow for Taiwan's president, Tsai Ing-Wen, and her foreign minister Dr Joseph Wu. So much so that Wu offered to resign in recognition of this dire diplomatic failure. But instead, President Tsai ordered Wu to get creative. And he did. He opens a laptop, plugs in a projector and begins a well-rehearsed presentation. In the background, music begins to blare: "Isla Formosa, Taiwan will touch your heart."
The conflict saw 200,000 ethnic Isaaqs — Somaliland's dominant clan — executed or killed in what has become known as Africa's Forgotten Genocide. As neighbouring Somalia descended into bloodshed, Somaliland quietly patched together an intricate peace.Travelling through Somaliland reflects that achievement. While foreigners must be accompanied by armed police when outside the cities, there is a casual feel to these arrangements.
Phillips believes a key reason Somaliland's peace-building initiatives worked was because they had to use their own money.
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