Taiwan and the Czech Republic share the determination to defend democracy and freedom, Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) told a forum in Prague yesterday, calling on democratic countries to unite against authoritarianism.
Wu made the remarks at a forum cohosted by the Czech Academy of Sciences and Czech think tank Sinopsis titled “Towards a productive relationship: Engaging with Taiwan in multiple domains.”
“As a former political scientist studying democratization, I have always wanted to visit late [Czech] president Vaclav Havel’s motherland,” Wu is cited as saying in a statement released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Photo courtesy of the Minister of Foreign Affairs
“The pursuit of freedom and democracy has always been the most important reason that our two countries are closely connected,” he said.
The combination of new technologies and social media has empowered people around the world to voice their views, but at the same time, democracy’s enemies have become increasingly bold and outspoken, Wu said.
“Our democratic accomplishments … need to be underpinned by determination and principles. This is especially true in times when authoritarianism continuously seeks to undermine the values and institutions that we all cherish,” he said.
When democracies are threatened around the world, “we need to work with and support each other. United we stand, divided we fall,” he said.
Taiwan is willing to share its valuable experiences in economic and technological developments with like-minded countries around the world and serve as “a force for good” against authoritarianism, Wu said.
Wu is part of a delegation to Europe that has since Sunday been visiting Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
Wu is invited to a meeting of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, an international group of lawmakers, in Rome tomorrow, which he might attend via videoconference due to the visit’s tight schedule, the ministry said.
The ministry did not confirm media reports that Wu would also visit Poland and Brussels.
Moreover, a 66-person trade and investment delegation is visiting Lithuania, after leaving the Czech Republic on Tuesday.
Taiwan and Lithuania have agreed to establish representative offices in each other’s capitals, despite pressure from the Chinese government.
Lithuania’s representative office is expected to open at the beginning of next year, Lithuanian Minister of the Economy and Innovation Ausrine Armonaite said.
A Taiwanese firm might open a semiconductor factory in Lithuania, she said.
During a bilateral trade and investment forum yesterday, Taiwan and Lithuania signed six memorandums of understanding in life sciences, information and communications technology, financial technology, electric vehicles, laser technology, semiconductors and food processing.
Additional reporting by CNA
‘HIDDEN GEM’: The city earned plaudits for its low crime rate, world-class healthcare system, cheap cost of living and easy public transportation Taipei has been named the 10th best city in the world for quality of living in an annual survey by the editors of Monocle, a UK-based global affairs and lifestyle magazine. The survey, which is to be published in the magazine’s July/August issue, selected the world’s top 25 cities based on factors including cost of living, retail, hospitality, culture and access to green spaces, as well as feedback from Monocle correspondents. Taipei’s 10th place finish was one place down from a year earlier. The survey ranked Copenhagen as the world’s best city, with Zurich, Lisbon, Helsinki and Stockholm rounding out the top five.
GLOBAL STRATEGY: Indo-Pacific alliances need reinforcement to prevent Chinese occupation of Taiwan, which would threaten Japan, Hawaii and Australia, Pompeo said The US should officially recognize Taiwan as a free, independent nation and establish official diplomatic ties, former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo told an event at the Hudson Institute in Washington on Friday. Every US president since Harry Truman has considered Taiwan’s existence to be of utmost importance to US national security, Pompeo said. Taiwan is a principal US partner in technology and economic matters, and if China were to capture Taiwan’s semiconductor supply chain, it would severely hamper the US economy, Pompeo said. Should China occupy Taiwan, it would severely weaken US influence in the Indo-Pacific region and its surrounding areas,
NO COMORBIDITIES: The girl died of encephalitis, the sixth COVID-19-related death of the disease this year and 19th death of a child from the virus, the center said The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported 52,213 new domestically transmitted COVID-19 cases and 171 deaths from the virus, including a four-year-old girl, who had been diagnosed with encephalitis, and a 19-year-old man, who had underlying health conditions. “The caseloads are usually higher on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, but they [yesterday] fell 7.3 percent from the day before,” Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said. Chuang, who is the CECC’s spokesman, said that most cities and counties reported a drop in new cases, and the CECC expects fewer than 50,000 new cases today. The center said that 150 of
LIMIT: The CECC has capped the number of weekly arrivals to 25,000, which critics said has limited the number of available flights and caused ticket prices to soar The government is not likely to raise the cap on the number of inbound travelers before the end of this month, despite the apparent effect on the number of inbound flights, Minister of Transportation and Communications Wang Kwo-tsai (王國材) said yesterday. The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) on Wednesday last week eased quarantine rules for inbound travelers, who must undergo three days of home quarantine upon arrival and spend another four days in self-initiated disease prevention. It also capped the number of inbound travelers to 25,000 per week. The weekly limit has drawn criticism that it has limited the number of flights