“China firmly supports Somalia’s sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity, and opposes any act of splitting Somali territory,” the ministry’s spokesman Lin Jian told a regular press briefing on Monday afternoon.

“We urge the Somaliland authorities to recognise the situation and immediately cease separatist activities and collusion with external forces,” Lin said, calling the Somaliland issue “entirely Somalia’s internal affair” that “should be resolved by the Somali people in a manner consistent with their national conditions and constitution”.

Eritrea, a fellow Horn of Africa nation, said China could use its power at the UN Security Council to stop the formal recognition of Somaliland.

On Sunday, the Eritrean ministry of information said the move was a “ploy” that had been “brewing for some time” to destabilise the region and was designed to incite “global crises and mayhem.”

Eritrea stressed it was “particularly incumbent on the People’s Republic of China to shoulder its moral responsibilities in view of the apparent analogy” with Taiwan.

Somaliland declared its independence in 1991, but Israel was the first country to grant it formal recognition.

The self-declared republic is close to the strategically important Bab al-Mandab strait linking Africa with Yemen, where the Houthi rebels have been battling government forces for years.

China’s interests are centred on securing the strait – which it regards as a “jugular vein” for the Maritime Silk Road – to protect global trade.

Its first overseas military base is in neighbouring Djibouti to help counter the possible emergence of a rival security hub in Somaliland.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the recognition of Somaliland was in “the spirit of the Abraham Accords”, the landmark 2020 agreements brokered by the United States to normalise relations between Israel and several Arab and Muslim-majority nations.

Netanyahu said Israel planned to immediately expand its relations with Somaliland in areas such as agriculture, health, technology and economics.

However, the move has also drawn sharp condemnation from Somalia and several neighbouring countries.

International and regional bodies – including the African Union, the Arab League, the Gulf Cooperation Council, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, an east African bloc – have described the move as a threat to territorial integrity and a violation of international law.

China, which has vast interests across the Horn of Africa, has consistently resisted the formal recognition of Somaliland.

This stance has hardened into fierce opposition as the breakaway region strengthened its diplomatic and economic ties with Taiwan, particularly following the mutual establishment of representative offices in Hargeisa, the capital of the region, and Taipei in 2020.