The government yesterday offered condolences to the family of Czech Senate President Jaroslav Kubera, a supporter of Taiwan, who passed away a day earlier in Teplice, Czech Republic.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) had called the Czech Economic and Cultural Office, Taipei to communicate the sadness of President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and Taiwanese at hearing of Kubera’s death, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) said.
Patrick Rumlar, the head of the Czech office, thanked Wu and said he would relay the message to his government, Ou said.
Ke Liang-ruey (柯良叡), the head of Taiwan’s representative office in the Czech Republic, also called Kubera’s office and his family after the news broke to express Taiwan’s sadness, the ministry said.
Kubera died in Prague on Monday at the age of 72 due to unspecified health problems, a Czech News Agency report said.
Kubera was described by Ou as a staunch supporter of Taiwan who was scheduled to visit the nation next month.
Kubera attended the National Day reception held by the Taiwan representative office in October last year and announced his intention to visit Taiwan with a business delegation, which angered Beijing and Czech President Milos Zeman, according to foreign media reports.
He was intent on pushing through with the visit, despite the opposition of the Chinese embassy in the Czech Republic, Ou said.
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