TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday rejected doubts about the new Somaliland envoy's support for Taiwan. 

Mahmoud Adam Jama Galaal took up his position in Taipei last month, but past tweets have thrown doubt about his support for Taiwan relations, per CNA. While the two do not maintain official diplomatic ties, they opened representative offices in each other’s capital in 2020.

In 2022, when Galaal belonged to the opposition party, he posted a message on X criticizing a visit by Somaliland’s foreign minister to Taipei. He described the government’s policy as “ridiculous” for seemingly alienating China in favor of Taiwan.

The ministry said Tuesday that the diplomat’s remarks were based on domestic political issues. With a new government in Somaliland taking office in January, contacts between the new president and Taiwan’s representative office are developing in a positive direction, the ministry said. Galaal also favored the deepening of bilateral relations.

In an X message in January, the Somaliland diplomat wrote that foreign policy evolved with the times and that one may embrace something they were once uncertain about. Galaal said that before he was appointed envoy, he had praised Taiwan’s “unparalleled assistance” for Somaliland, which had won hearts and minds in the African country.