Not Long Ago, the Somali and Chinese Foreign Ministers Would Not Have Met Like This

Somali Foreign Minister Ahmed Moallim Fiqi met with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi at the United Nations in New York on February 18, 2025. Image via Xinhua.

Tuesday’s meeting between the Chinese and Somali Foreign Ministers at the United Nations in New York largely went unnoticed amid Wang Yi’s other much more high-profile speeches and bilaterals that he held that day.

But Wang’s decision to meet with Fiqi is notable, though, because it probably wouldn’t have happened a year ago when Mogadishu was still on China’s naughty list for signing a pair of letters at the UN Human Rights Council that criticized Beijing’s treatment of its Uyghur minority population in Xinjiang.

  • Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis.
  • Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations.
  • Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South.

China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s happening.

Subscribe today for unlimited access.

What is The China-Global South Project?

Independent

The China-Global South Project is passionately independent, non-partisan and does not advocate for any country, company or culture.

News

A carefully curated selection of the day’s most important China-Global South stories. Updated 24 hours a day by human editors. No bots, no algorithms.

Analysis

Diverse, often unconventional insights from scholars, analysts, journalists and a variety of stakeholders in the China-Global South discourse.

Networking

A unique professional network of China-Africa scholars, analysts, journalists and other practioners from around the world.