The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday awarded visiting Czech Senator Pavel Fischer a medal of friendship in recognition of his contributions to promoting closer relations between the countries.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) conferred the Friendship Medal of Diplomacy on Fischer during a ceremony at the ministry’s offices in Taipei.
Fischer, chair of the Czech Senate’s Foreign Affairs, Defense and Security Committee, is known for being friendly toward Taiwan, notably helping facilitate Czech Senate President Milos Vystrcil’s historic trip to Taiwan in September 2020, the ministry said in a news release.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
During that visit, Vystrcil became the first incumbent speaker from a foreign parliament to address the Legislative Yuan in 45 years, the ministry said.
Fischer also helped Taiwan procure COVID-19 vaccines donated by the Czech Republic in 2020, and initiated several pro-Taiwan proposals in the Czech Senate, including one passed unanimously calling for Taiwan to participate in the annual World Health Assembly in 2021, it said.
The senator arrived early yesterday for a three-day visit.
In other developments, Taiwan on Monday officially opened a representative office in Montreal, its fourth office in Canada, in part to build closer ties with the technology hub and support overseas Taiwanese in French-speaking Quebec.
Representative to Canada Harry Tseng (曾厚仁) and office chief Rita Chen (陳珮瑩), who most recently served as Taiwan’s deputy representative to New York, oversaw a ceremony opening the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office, Montreal, also known as Bureau Economique et Culturel de Taipei a Montreal.
In a prerecorded address aired at the ceremony, Wu said the latest office in Canada showed Taiwan’s determination to expand its relations with the North American country on all fronts.
Tseng said the opening of the Montreal office came in response to years of anticipation from overseas Taiwanese in Quebec and reflected the high priority Taiwan’s government puts on ties with Canada.
The ceremony was also attended by several Canadian lawmakers, including Judy Sgro, chair of the Taiwan-Canada Parliamentary Friendship Group; Pierre Paul-Hus; Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay; and Denis Trudel.
The ministry said it chose Montreal as the site for its newest office in Canada because it is the largest city in Quebec, and is known as a technology hub, notably in video game and artificial intelligence development.
The city is also home to the headquarters of the International Civil Aviation Organization.
The Montreal office would be responsible for Quebec, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nunavut, and Saint Pierre and Miquelon.
Taiwan’s main representative office is in the capital, Ottawa, and it also has branch offices in Toronto and Vancouver.
The Montreal office’s address is 2310-1800 McGill College Ave, Montreal, QC H3A 3J6, Canada, and its telephone number is 1-514-282-8008. Its Web site is www.roc-taiwan.org/cayul.
CLOSURES: Several forest recreation areas have been closed as a precaution, while some ferry and flight services have been suspended or rescheduled A land warning for Tropical Storm Danas was issued last night at 8:30pm, as the storm’s outer bands began bringing heavy rain to southeastern regions, including Hualien and Taitung counties, and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島), according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). As of 9:15pm, the storm was approximately 330km west-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, moving north-northeast at 10-20kph, the CWA reported. A sea warning had already been issued at 8:30am yesterday. The storm had maximum sustained winds near its center of 83kph, with gusts of up to 108kph, according to the CWA. As of 9:30pm last night, Kaohsiung, Tainan,
POWERFUL DETERRENT: Precision fire and dispersed deployment of units would allow Taiwanese artillery to inflict heavy casualties in an invasion, a researcher said The nation’s military has boosted its self-defense capability with the establishment of a new company equipped with the US-supplied High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS). The company, part of the army’s 58th Artillery Command, is Taiwan’s first HIMARS unit. Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄), who presided over the formation ceremony in Taichung on Friday, called the unit a significant addition to the nation’s defensive strength, saying it would help deter adversaries from starting a war. The unit is made up of top-performing soldiers who received training in the US, according to the Ministry of National Defense. The HIMARS can be equipped with
UNILATERAL: The move from China’s aviation authority comes despite a previous 2015 agreement that any changes to flight paths would be done by consensus The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday slammed Beijing for arbitrarily opening the M503 flight route’s W121 connecting path, saying that such unilateral conduct disrespected the consensus between both sides and could destabilize the Taiwan Strait and the wider region. The condemnation came after the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) earlier yesterday announced it “has activated the W121 connecting path of the M503 flight route,” meaning that west-to-east flights are now permitted along the path. The newly activated west-to-east route is intended to “alleviate the pressure caused by the increase of flights,” China’s state-run Xinhua news agency quoted China’s Taiwan Affairs Office
STRONG WINDS: Without the Central Mountain Range as a shield, people should be ready for high-speed winds, CWA weather forecaster Liu Yu-chi said Danas was yesterday upgraded to a typhoon and could grow stronger as it moves closely along the nation’s west coastline, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Hsinchu and Chiayi cities, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung, as well as Hsinchu, Miaoli, Changhua, Yunlin, Nantou, Chiayi, Penghu and Pingtung counties have canceled work and school today. Work and school in Keelung, Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan, and Yilan, Taitung, Hualien, Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties would continue as usual, although offices and schools would be closed in Taoyuan’s Luju (蘆竹), Dayuan (大園), Guangyin (觀音) and Sinwu (新屋) districts. As of 5pm yesterday, the typhoon’s