To commemorate 250 years since Count Moric Benovsky touched foot on Taiwan, the Slovak Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei and the Lanyang Museum are planning a special exhibition to begin in May next year.
Benovsky, a military officer and explorer who was born in present-day Vrbove, Slovakia, landed at a bay near Yilan County’s Suao (蘇澳) in August 1771, becoming the first European to visit the east coast.
He stayed there for 16 days, establishing a “point of contact” between the two countries, the Yilan County Government said on Saturday.
Photo courtesy of the Yilan County Government
To commemorate 250 years since the expedition, the county said that it is working with the office to hold a special exhibition at the Lanyang Museum in Toucheng Township (頭城).
The show, titled “1771: Count Benovsky in Yilan,” is to run from May 13 to Sept. 13 next year, it said.
As part of the exhibition, the office is to present a statue to mark the area where Benovsky came ashore, the county said, adding that it would likely be placed at the Nanfangao Sailing Center.
Meanwhile, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Saturday took to Facebook to thank Slovakia for its donation of 10,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses.
The Eastern European nation on Thursday last week announced the donation in return for Taiwan’s donation of masks last year.
The vaccines are due to arrive in September through the European Civil Protection Mechanism, which allows the European Commission to share vaccines outside of the EU.
Starting with dakujem, or “thank you” in Slovak, Tsai said that the mutual support of democracies creates a virtuous cycle.
Many Central and Eastern European nations, including Slovakia and Lithuania — which last month also announced a donation of vaccines — share with Taiwan the experience of democratization, she said.
Having undergone this transformation, these nations are now defenders of demoractic values and more deeply empathize with Taiwan’s situation, she added.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement said that it was pleased to see ties with Slovakia continue to deepen.
Taiwan Thinktank consultant Lai I-chung (賴怡忠) said that Slovakia is very interested in Taiwan’s digital infrastructure and technology cooperation.
Slovakia is about the same size as Taiwan, but with a younger population and more advanced software development, presenting areas ripe for collaboration, Lai said.
It is also looking for nations in a similar stage of development to work with, rather than seeking exchanges with larger nations, he added.
A delegation from Slovakia is also expected to arrive in September, led by Karol Galek, second state secretary of the Slovak Ministry of Economy, the Central News Agency on Friday quoted a source familiar with the matter as saying, adding that the two nations expect to sign a mutual legal assistance agreement later this month.
Additional reporting by Su Yung-yao
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