The donation of automated mask production lines by a local company to the Czech Republic is good cooperation, regardless of the channel goes through, a Czech Senate official said yesterday.
“We perceive the donation as a great help and expression of good cooperation between the two democratic and free countries,” Petr Kostka, director of the Secretariat of the President of the Czech Senate, wrote in response to the Central News Agency’s (CNA) questions.
It does not matter whether the donation is done business to business or government to government, Kostka said, referring to five automated mask production lines that Autoland Technology, a Tainan machinery manufacturer, had pledged to the Czech Republic.
Photo: CNA
Two of the lines were scheduled to ship to the central European country yesterday, Autoland general manager Kuo Li-lin (郭立霖) told a news conference in Taipei.
The government has been at odds with Autoland over the donation, saying that it should have been done government to government, but the company is donating it directly to a Czech business, citing local regulations and the complexity of the government’s approach.
The donation was one outcome of a six-day visit to Taiwan by a delegation from the Czech Republic, despite warnings from Beijing.
To show its appreciation of the Czech Republic’s support of Taiwan, Autoland pledged to donate the production lines before Czech Senate President Milos Vystrcil and his delegation wrapped up their visit in early September.
Asked about the donation going directly to a business, Kostka said that it was an “economic, effective and speedy solution,” quoting an earlier statement made by Vystrcil.
“Who else but private subjects can quickly find a mode of cooperation and start production processes? In other words, the donation is what is important,” Kostka said.
“It is the fulfillment of one of the goals of the Senate president’s visit to Taiwan, together with a business delegation. The aim was to start, deepen and broaden the cooperation. It is clear that the business-to-business model is a success from this point of view,” he said.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said that it planned to donate a separate production line to the Czech Republic, government to government, and Kostka confirmed that the Czech Senate was notified of the donation by Taiwan’s representative office in Prague.
The ministry’s donation is from Taipei to Prague, but the Czech Senate is willing to provide assistance if needed, Kostka said.
Kuo said that two other production lines would be shipped to businesses, while a third would be sent to a school, allowing collaboration between industry and academia.
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
NAMING SPAT: The foreign ministry called on Denmark to propose an acceptable solution to the erroneous nationality used for Taiwanese on residence permits Taiwan has revoked some privileges for Danish diplomatic staff over a Danish permit that lists “Taiwan” as “China,” Eric Huang (黃鈞耀), head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of European Affairs, told a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Reporters asked Huang whether the Danish government had responded to the ministry’s request that it correct the nationality on Danish residence permits of Taiwanese, which has been listed as “China” since 2024. Taiwan’s representative office in Denmark continues to communicate with the Danish government, and the ministry has revoked some privileges previously granted to Danish representatives in Taiwan and would continue to review
The first bluefin tuna of the season, brought to shore in Pingtung County and weighing 190kg, was yesterday auctioned for NT$10,600 (US$333.5) per kilogram, setting a record high for the local market. The auction was held at the fish market in Donggang Fishing Harbor, where the Siaoliouciou Island-registered fishing vessel Fu Yu Ching No. 2 delivered the “Pingtung First Tuna” it had caught for bidding. Bidding was intense, and the tuna was ultimately jointly purchased by a local restaurant and a local company for NT$10,600 per kilogram — NT$300 ,more than last year — for a total of NT$2.014 million. The 67-year-old skipper
China has reserved offshore airspace over the Yellow Sea and East China Sea from March 27 to May 6, issuing alerts that are usually used to warn of military exercises, although no such exercises have been announced, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on Sunday. Reserving such a large area for 40 days without explanation is an “unusual step,” as military exercises normally only last a few days, the paper said. The alerts, known as notice to air missions (NOTAMs), “are intended to inform pilots and aviation authorities of temporary airspace hazards or restrictions,” the article said. The airspace reserved in the alert
RSS