Taiwan expects a Czech delegation to arrive on Aug. 30 and depart on Sept. 4, with visitors including Vera Kuberova, the widow of former Czech Senate president Jaroslav Kubera, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.
The 90-member delegation, to be led by Senate President Milos Vystrcil, is expected to include business, political and academic representatives, including Prague Mayor Zdenek Hrib, who in January signed a sister-city deal with the Taipei City Government.
Asked about the schedule at a news briefing in Taipei, Department of European Affairs Director-General Johnson Chiang (姜森) said that the delegation members must test negative for COVID-19 twice — the first test conducted two days before they depart and the second upon arrival in Taiwan.
Photo: Peng Wan-hsin, Taipei Times
The ministry is to work with the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) and receive pandemic prevention training, Chiang said, adding that the measures adopted for the visits of former Japanese prime minister Yoshiro Mori and US Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar would be implemented.
Business representatives are to attend an economic forum that would bolster Taiwan-Czech free trade cooperation, he said.
Many in the delegation have experienced Chinese oppression and they hope to establish a cooperation network with groups in Taiwan, he said.
Kubera, who passed away on Jan. 20 after a heart attack, was scheduled to visit Taiwan in February.
Kuberova and their daughter, Vendula Vinsova, accused Beijing of sending threatening letters and placing undue stress on Kubera, leading to his death.
Vystrcil’s visit has received support from the Czech Senate and is intended to show the nation’s resolve to uphold democratic values and not bow to oppression from China, Chiang said.
Vystrcil, whose position is second only to Czech President Milos Zeman, would give a speech on democratic values, Chiang said.
In addition to political and business dignitaries, representatives of major Czech universities and research institutions, as well as the Czech Philharmonic, would be part of the delegation, he said.
‘NON-RED’: Taiwan and Ireland should work together to foster a values-driven, democratic economic system, leveraging their complementary industries, Lai said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday expressed hopes for closer ties between Taiwan and Ireland, and that both countries could collaborate to create a values-driven, democracy-centered economic system. He made the remarks while meeting with an Irish cross-party parliamentary delegation visiting Taiwan. The delegation, led by John McGuinness, deputy speaker of the Irish house of representatives, known as the Dail, includes Irish lawmakers Malcolm Byrne, Barry Ward, Ken O’Flynn and Teresa Costello. McGuinness, who chairs the Ireland-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Association, is a friend of Taiwan, and under his leadership, the association’s influence has grown over the past few years, Lai said. Ireland is
FINAL COUNTDOWN: About 50,000 attended a pro-recall rally yesterday, while the KMT and the TPP plan to rally against the recall votes today Democracy activists, together with arts and education representatives, yesterday organized a motorcade, while thousands gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei in the evening in support of tomorrow’s recall votes. Recall votes for 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu City mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) are to be held tomorrow, while recall votes for seven other KMT lawmakers are scheduled for Aug. 23. The afternoon motorcade was led by the Spring Breeze Culture and Arts Foundation, the Tyzen Hsiao Foundation and the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association, and was joined by delegates from the Taiwan Statebuilding Party and the Taiwan Solidarity
An SOS message in a bottle has been found in Ireland that is believed to have come from the Taiwanese captain of fishing vessel Yong Yu Sing No. 18 (永裕興18號), who has been missing without a trace for over four years, along with nine Indonesian crew members. The vessel, registered to Suao (蘇澳), went missing near Hawaii on Dec. 30, 2020. The ship has since been recovered, but the 10 crew members have never been found. The captain, surnamed Lee (李), is believed to have signed the note with his name. A post appeared on Reddit on Tuesday after a man
A saleswoman, surnamed Chen (陳), earlier this month was handed an 18-month prison term for embezzling more than 2,000 pairs of shoes while working at a department store in Tainan. The Tainan District Court convicted Chen of embezzlement in a ruling on July 7, sentencing her to prison for illegally profiting NT$7.32 million (US$248,929) at the expense of her employer. Chen was also given the opportunity to reach a financial settlement, but she declined. Chen was responsible for the sales counter of Nike shoes at Tainan’s Shinkong Mitsukoshi Zhongshan branch, where she had been employed since October 2019. She had previously worked