- China has made it clear that Taiwan remains its number one foreign policy priority and has vowed to eventually unify it with the mainland.
- The Taiwan issue has also led to further straining of US-China relations, especially after House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taipei in August 2022.
Image: MFA CHINA
Kenya remains committed to One-China policy, President Ruto said during bilateral talks with Xi Jinping in Beijing, China.
Even as the two leaders discussed infrastructure development, trade and cooperation in the digital economy, the one-China policy featured in the talks.
"Kenya is firmly committed to the one-China policy, supports China's rightful position on human rights and other issues, and hopes to learn from China's successful experience in development,” a brief released by the China Foreign Affairs Ministry after the bilateral meeting read in part.
According to the brief, President Ruto said that over the past 60 years since Kenya and China established diplomatic relations, the two sides have always trusted and respected each other.
On his part, President Xi emphasized that China supports Kenya's independent exploration of its path of modernization in line with the country's actual situation, and is ready to exchange experience in governance with Kenya.
The two sides also agreed to deepen practical cooperation and people-to-people exchanges with China to promote the steady development of Kenya-China comprehensive strategic partnership as well as Africa-China relations.
China has made it clear that Taiwan remains its number one foreign policy priority and has vowed to eventually unify it with the mainland.
The Taiwan issue has also led to further straining of US-China relations, especially after House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taipei in August 2022.
While China proposed the "one country, two systems" option, allowing Taiwan significant autonomy if it agreed to come under Beijing's control as did Hong Kong in 1997, Taipei has rejected the proposal.
Countries that have renounced recognition of Taiwan since 2016 include Kiribati, Solomon Islands, Dominican Republic, Burkina Faso, El Salvador, Panama, and São Tomé and Príncipe, and have relocated their diplomatic missions to Beijing.
The leaders of Solomon Islands and Honduras this year paid a state visit to China.
Although Kenya has historically maintained a One-China policy, recent events in Nairobi could have caught the attention of Beijing.
In May, former Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Richard Ngatia hosted Chenhwa Lou, a Taiwan Representative of what KNCC termed in its press release as “the Republic of Somaliland also affiliated to Kenya”, to discuss trade and investment.
Somaliland is a breakaway autonomous region in northern Somalia that declared independence in 1991.
Like Taiwan's case with China, it maintains, that it is independent of Somalia. It has in recent years pushed for international recognition.
A statement issued by the KNCCI after the meeting said the Chamber highlighted the importance of strengthening ties between Kenya and Taiwan in trade and investment.
He [Ngatia] emphasized that Kenya is an attractive destination for foreign investment, and Taiwanese investors can benefit greatly from the country’s strategic location, skilled workforce, and abundant natural resources.
“Ambassador Chenhwa Lou expressed his country’s interest in exploring business opportunities in Kenya. He noted that Taiwan has expertise in various sectors, including healthcare, technology, manufacturing, value addition, and e-mobility, and is keen to share this knowledge with Kenyan businesses,” the statement said.
Both parties agreed to collaborate further to promote trade and investment between “the two countries. They identified key areas of cooperation, including technology transfer, joint ventures, scholarships, and capacity building”, it added.
The meeting was a follow-up from a networking dinner hosted by Chenhwa for KNCCI members led by then-chamber first vice president Erick Rutto, who is now the president, to engage on available opportunities between Kenya and Taiwan markets.
It is against this background that the Ngatia- Chenhwa meeting is seen as far as the need to restate Kenya's position on Taiwan is concerned.
President Ruto's foreign policy decisions on long-held positions such as the first diplomatic gaffe through a tweet that Kenya would no longer recognise the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic and the recognition of Kosovo have also not gone unnoticed.