By Ismail A Mohamed (Geyaandiid)

The opaque peculiar interventions of Chinese government and companies in Somali affairs has been evident  implicitly and explicitly cross the country to exacerbate precarious situation even further,  though it is harder to comprehend as outsider  what sparked and instigated such interventionist policies, certainly demand for energy, minerals and raw materials  are the catalysts among the unknowns  lurking  in  the horizon.

The advent China’s warships off the cost of Somalia in 2009 to protect its commercial vessels from the pirates has been the first time in his history they have ventured  beyond Asia,  the quest of any emerging power  has been  to go beyond its  borders,  to protect  its  strategic national interest  to shape , to  influence and even conquer new territories,  crises in Somalia has given china such opportunity  to test its might and full fill that prophecy. General Chen Bingde, the chief of the general staff of the People’s Liberation Army suggested May in this year the international community to attack pirates’ leaders on land in order to dislodge them from their bases, the pirates have no permanent bases and such colossal error of judgment will cause collateral damages to the coastal communities, China is against any military interventions in the world except the one against Somalia.

Geopolitics is never static it correlates with capitalism with out empirical view and in disdain until recent past the relationship between the two countries has been  friendly one  a mutual understanding based on respecting each others internal affairs however the new  menacing opportunistic approach of the dragon has changed  all that. It seems Somalia is cursed for its strategic locations, visible and invisible conspiring forces are working tirelessly over its disintegration to divide it into a smaller semi-autonomous regions,  China has played an active role in that strategy, it has funded according to wikileaks cables in 2010 the creation of Azania or Jubaland, to create a buffer zone  to protect Kenya from radical group of Al Shabaab , Azania was known to the Chinese as 澤散 Zésàn by the 3rd century CE, even the name has Chinese back ground.

The trilateral agreements between Ethiopia, China and defect state of Somaliland vindicates the illicit activities of the Chinese in Somalia, according to the reports Hong Kong-based PetroTrans Company Ltd signed a deal with the Ethiopian Government to purchase gas and oil over a 25 year period. The Chinese company will invest close to $4 billion in developing oil and gas reserves in blocks 3, 4, 11, 15, 12, 16, 17 and 20 in the Ogaden region. The Somaliland port of Berbera will be used to export the gas and the oil, Somaliland is not recognized country, it does not have any legal jurisdiction to make such agreement under the international law.

Even the hour of need when Somalia is ravaged by drought and famine China has contributed the least to commensurate its wealth, the majority of the pledges it made to famine victims in horn Africa went to Kenya and Ethiopia, even though the epicenter of the crises is in Somalia, China needs to respect integrity and sovereignty of Somalia, as does not like to be intervened its thorny issue of Taiwan.

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