On the occasion of the 61th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Somalia and China, the former Somali Ambassador to China (2005-2011), H.E. Mohammed Ahmed Awil, told two stories from a reservoir of his unforgettable memories on Somalia-China relations, which speaks to the long-standing and brotherly relationship between the two countries and two peoples.
1
My relationship with Ambassador Wei Hongtian started in 2005 during my tenure as the Somalia Ambassador to China and he was an employee in the African Department of the Chinese Foreign Ministry. We re-united on the 8th of March, 2015 when were both invited for the Somali Women’s Day Celebration plus the then First Lady Mama Zahra. We had the opportunity to talk and exchange our numbers for future communication by my virtue of having served as the Somalia Ambassador to China previously. He was a friendly and jovial colleague who made our interaction quite easy. I regularly visited him at the Chinese Embassy in Mogadishu, Somalia located at the Jazeera Palace Hotel for acquaintance and private talks. This was quite convenient given my resident hotel being just 4km from the location of the Embassy. Our discussions were mainly based on Somalia–Chinafriendship given our past experiences.
The 26th of July, 2015 just started like any other normal day with people going about their normal duties. As I was having my lunch in my residence restaurant, I heard a big explosion that prompted everybody in the building to find out what had happened. We climbed the hotel’s roof top to have a view of what was happening but in vain. On making inquiries, I was informed that a car bomb had exploded at the Jazeera Palace Hotel. We could not immediately establish the aim of their act but I had to quickly call Ambassador Wei to know his fate. He was shocked by my inquiries as he was not aware of the happening since he was on vacation with his family in Beijing, China. I therefore, briefed him on the happenings and asked him to find out from his staffs that he could not access due to the situation within the building. He then requested me to go find out what had happened.
I took two securities including my bodyguard and went at the scene only to find out that the blasts seriously damaged the Chinese Embassy. It had actually shattered windows on the floor that was housing the Chinese Embassy from the outside and I was informed that one Embassy staff had also been seriously wounded and was being taken to the Amisom Hospital. I called the accompanying staff if he could be taken to Erdogan Hospital, built by the Turkish Government but the staff said he had arrived and was being attended to. I called the commander in charge of the hospital to just let him know I could arrange or donate blood if needed to which he appreciated but promised that they had enough in store. All this time, I constantly kept in touch with one of the staff members till the unfortunate incident of him succumbing to the injuries at around 22.30pm. May the almighty God rest his soul in eternal peace.
The incident was condemned by many individuals including the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang who acted swiftly and relocated other staff members; Somalia President, His Excellency Hassan Sheikh Mohamud who even vowed to rebuild Jazeera Palace Hotel. The Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility in retaliation to efforts to drive its militants out of Southern Somalia in the previous week by the AMISOM where many civilians lost lives.
On his return, Ambassador Wei requested me to find them armored vehicles which I could not find at my best but got them Four Wheel Drive Toyota Prado as they fix their damaged official cars including the Ambassador’s. The Ambassador appreciated and used the vehicle till his official car was fully repaired. The Ambassador also requested that I assist him to find residences of embassy staff and himself. This was in my capacity as the advisor to the Deputy Prime Minister and even arranged a meeting between the Ambassador and the Prime Minister, Omar Abdirashid to discuss suitable relocation for the Chinese Embassy and its staff. Due security challenges on all properties that we identified, including the area in the vicinity of Somalia State House, the Ambassador decided to move to the Airport area close to AMISOM headquarters and other Embassies.
The Ambassador also requested that I help locate land within Airport area for construction of the embassy, to which I sought assistance of the Somalia Military. They were very helpful and asked me to take the Ambassador to see the land.We eventually went to the location where several sites were shown and the Chinese Ambassadorselected one site. The rest is history, the Chinese Embassy in Somalia has stood on this particular site till this day.
2
Upon establishment of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of Somalia in Kenya, its key challenge was to reconcile all clans and the country as a whole. The TFG President, His Excellency Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed announced the kickoff of this process on 1st March, 2007. The process was initially scheduled to be held between 16th of April and Mid-June, 2007, but due to ensuring inclusivity it was postponed three times but finally kicked off on the 15th of July, 2007 till 30th August, 2007. The process was a first major reconciliation effort made on Somalia soil under its own government and people.
A key guest to this ceremony was Ambassador Zhang Ming of the People’s Republic of China. Iwelcomed him at the Airport and led him to a prepared residence in front of Villa Somalia; the official residence and office of the Somali President. The Ambassador who is a fluent Arabic speaker was overwhelmed by the warm welcome accorded to him by the 3,000 plus Somali delegates, interacted easily with them and even decided to spend the night in Mogadishu while the rest of his delegation returned as planned to Nairobi, Kenya for the night. He took his time to visit the Chinese Embassy premises in Mogadishu, Somalia and facilities built by the Chinese Government for Somalia, including the Banadir Hospital, Mogadishu Stadium, National theatre etc. and even met the Somali security personnel who was working for the embassy at the onset of the civil strife in 1991 who took the Chinese emblem at the embassy for safe custody till that time.
The delegates’ warm welcome for Ambassador Zhang Ming proved that the long standing relationship between Somalia and China was still being held dearly by Somalis. This showed that Somalis still hold their historical association with China so dearly and was not ready to let go of it. Somalis are aware of China’s foreign policy of non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries since it restored the lawful seat in the UN Security Council in 1971. It protects the sovereignty of all nations as enshrined in the UN charter and is viewed by third nations as a good international citizen. Hence, its attending of this conference was a hope for Somalis to achieve their much desired peace. On the other hand, by the Chinese government sending such a strong delegation, it also showed its commitment to their relations with Somalia and was ready to pick up from where it stopped
