The Czech Republic stands with Taiwan in any circumstance, Czech Chamber of Deputies Speaker Marketa Pekarova Adamova told lawmakers during a plenary session at the legislature in Taipei yesterday.
“The stories of the Czech Republic and Taiwan are intertwined, and developing freedom and democracy is our common responsibility. Our dear colleagues in the Legislative Yuan and people of Taiwan, I want to assure you that we are with you now and will continue to be with you. In any circumstance, we are in the same boat. We are with you, as you are with us,” Adamova said, before ending her speech by saying “Thank you” in Mandarin.
Before the speech, Legislative Speaker You Si-kun (游錫?) presented Adamova with the Legislative Yuan First-Class Medal of Honor for her contributions to Taiwan.
Photo: Reuters
She is the first female parliamentary speaker from a non-diplomatic ally to address the Legislative Yuan and to be recognized with the medal, You said.
In her speech, Adamova spoke of the importance of treasuring hard-earned democracy, as well as advocating and practicing democratic values, as they are now under threat from authoritarian regimes, who use “sweet nothings” as a shield for their crimes against humanity.
“People in our generation tend to take our choices for granted: having free speech as well as the freedom to hold elections, read books, travel and develop our talents. We thought we could have these choices forever, but that is not so,” she said. “All these could be gone quickly if we stop treasuring and protecting them... Many of us also naively thought that wars would never return in our lifetime. However, we have witnessed in the past year how a brutal war and clear violations of international laws have happened in Ukraine, which is less than 400km away from the Czech Republic. The distance is similar to that between Taipei and Kaohsiung.”
Photo: CNA
In his address to both houses of the Czech Republic in June last year, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said: “We are with you, be with us,” a sentence that was repeatedly sounded over the radio in Prague during the occupation of then-Czechoslovakia by Warsaw Pact troops in 1968, she said.
“It was after Zelenskiy’s speech that Czechs realized that our stories are intertwined, and we will always stand on the side of freedom, democracy and human rights,” she said.
Adamova said that she was deeply impressed by her visit to the National Center of Traditional Arts in Yilan County and would recommend it as a must-see tourist attraction to everybody.
Photo: CNA
Travel to Taiwan would be greatly facilitated through the soon-to-be launched direct flights between Taipei and Prague, she added.
You in his welcoming remarks said that Taiwan and the Czech Republic have broken the ice and made tremendous progress since 2020 following the visit of Czech Senate President Milos Vystrcil, who was the first parliamentary speaker from a non-diplomatic ally to address the legislature.
“Vystrcil’s visit was like a swallow in the spring, carrying the message of supporting a democratic Taiwan... Since then, we have seen growth in bilateral trade in two consecutive years, with growth reaching 20.25 percent last year,” You said.
“His visit also motivated other high-ranking officials from democratic countries in Europe to visit Taiwan. It raised the profile of Taiwan and opened the way for Taiwan to reach other nations in Europe,” he said.
Adamova’s visit also sends a strong message of support from a democratic ally and brought the spirit of defiance against authoritarians to Taiwan, as shown in the “Prague Spring” in 1968 and the “Velvet Revolution” in 1989, he said.
Bolstering the partnership is in Prague’s interests, he added.
ALL-IN-ONE: A company in Tainan and another in New Taipei City offer tours to China during which Taiwanese can apply for a Chinese ID card, the source said The National Immigration Agency and national security authorities have identified at least five companies that help Taiwanese apply for Chinese identification cards while traveling in China, a source said yesterday. The issue has garnered attention in the past few months after YouTuber “Pa Chiung” (八炯) said that there are companies in Taiwan that help Taiwanese apply for Chinese documents. Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) last week said that three to five public relations firms in southern and northern Taiwan have allegedly assisted Taiwanese in applying for Chinese ID cards and were under investigation for potential contraventions of the Act Governing
‘INVESTMENT’: Rubio and Arevalo said they discussed the value of democracy, and Rubio thanked the president for Guatemala’s strong diplomatic relationship with Taiwan Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Guatemala City on Wednesday where they signed a deal for Guatemala to accept migrants deported from the US, while Rubio commended Guatemala for its support for Taiwan and said the US would do all it can to facilitate greater Taiwanese investment in Guatemala. Under the migrant agreement announced by Arevalo, the deportees would be returned to their home countries at US expense. It is the second deportation deal that Rubio has reached during a Central America trip that has been focused mainly on immigration. Arevalo said his
‘SOVEREIGN AI’: As of Nov. 19 last year, Taiwan was globally ranked No. 11 for having computing power of 103 petaflops. The governments wants to achieve 1,200 by 2029 The government would intensify efforts to bolster its “Sovereign Artificial Intelligence [AI]” program by setting a goal of elevating the nation’s collective computing power in the public and private sectors to 1,200 peta floating points per second (petaflops) by 2029, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The goal was set to fulfill President William Lai’s (賴清德) vision of turning Taiwan into an “AI island.” Sovereign AI refers to a nation’s capabilities to produce AI using its own infrastructure, data, workforce and business networks. One petaflop allows 1 trillion calculations per second. As of Nov. 19 last year, Taiwan was globally ranked No. 11 for
STAY WARM: Sixty-three nontraumatic incidents of OHCA were reported on Feb. 1, the most for a single day this year, the National Fire Agency said A total of 415 cases of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) occurred this month as of Saturday, data from the National Fire Agency showed as doctors advised people to stay warm amid cold weather, particularly people with cardiovascular disease. The Central Weather Administration yesterday issued a low temperature warning nationwide except for Penghu County, anticipating sustained lows of 10°C or a dip to below 6°C in Nantou, Yilan, Hualien and Taitung counties, as well as areas north of Yunlin County. The coldest temperature recorded in flat areas of Taiwan proper yesterday morning was 6.4°C in New Taipei City’s Shiding District (石碇). Sixty-three nontraumatic OHCA