Czech Senator Jiri Drahos is to delay a visit to Taiwan until next spring due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.
Drahos, who serves as chairman of the Czech Senate Committee on Education, Science, Culture, Human Rights and Petitions, had been scheduled to visit next month, but has delayed the trip due to the worsening situation at home, the Czech News Agency reported on Wednesday.
The decision was made to ensure the trip’s efficacy, ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) said, adding that the ministry sincerely welcomes Drahos’ delegation and would continue promoting cooperation and friendly relations between the two nations.
The two sides would continue to discuss the precise dates for the visit, as well as opportunities for collaboration in cybersecurity and disease prevention, the two main fields on which the delegation had planned to focus, Ou said.
Drahos’ original itinerary had him arriving in Taiwan on Oct. 21 with a group of cybersecurity experts and scientists to attend Taiwan-Czech Technology Days events in Taipei.
Drahos was to attend the annual assembly of the Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers and receive an honorary professorship from National Tsing Hua University, Taipei Economic and Cultural Office, Prague Science and Technology Division Director Yen Hong-wei (顏宏偉) said.
On June 10, Drahos told reporters that the delegation hoped to engage with Taiwanese cybersecurity and epidemiological experts, as the nation is a leader in cybersecurity and has been successful in its fight against COVID-19.
The 71-year-old was president of the Czech Academy of Sciences from 2009 to 2017 before being elected to the Czech parliament in 2018.
Earlier in 2018, he stood in his nation’s presidential election as an independent, losing in the second round to Czech President Milos Zeman.
The Czech Republic as of yesterday had recorded 55,464 COVID-19 cases, including 555 deaths, with 2,309 confirmed on Wednesday alone.
The 2,392 cases recorded on Tuesday marked the second-highest daily increase for the nation since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
Taiwan from Aug. 30 to Sept. 4 welcomed an 89-member delegation led by Czech Senate President Milos Vystrcil, who met with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and other top officials, and spoke at the Legislative Yuan and National Chengchi University in Taipei.
The visit culminated in the signing of three memorandums of understanding with Taiwanese businesses, as well as exchanges in the political, business, science, technology and cultural fields.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
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