President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), Vice President William Lai (賴清德) and Premier Su Tseng- chang (蘇貞昌) would each donate one month’s salary to humanitarian relief efforts for Ukraine as the country battles a Russian invasion, Tsai said yesterday.
The pledge follows Taiwan’s donation of 27 tonnes of medical supplies to Ukraine this week.
Tsai told a meeting of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) that the determination of Ukrainians to defend their homeland has moved the world and Taiwanese.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
Tsai, who doubles as DPP chairperson, called on party officials to also donate money to relief efforts and urged all Taiwanese to do the same to show the world that Taiwan stands with Ukraine.
A person familiar with the situation told Reuters that Tsai as president receives about NT$400,000 a month in pay.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the government has established a special bank account to accept public donations that would go to Ukrainian refugees.
Photo: CNA
People can send their donations to account No. 102-005-124-619 under the name Disaster Relief Foundation (財團法人賑災基金會) at Land Bank of Taiwan (bank code No. 005) Changchun Branch(土地銀行 長春分行), it said.
The account is expected to remain active for at least a month, the ministry said.
It yesterday began accepting donations via automated teller machines and bank transfer, and would start accepting online donations today, it added.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
The ministry said it has asked the Taipei Representative Office in Poland to establish contact with non-govermental organizations designated by the Polish government to make sure the donations are spent on Ukrainian refugees who have settled there.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) yesterday also announced that he and other top-level KMT officials would donate a month of their salaries to help Ukrainian refugees.
However, the donations would be made through Taiwan’s Red Cross instead of the government’s special account, he said.
In other developments, the ministry said a second busload of Taiwanese evacuees and their spouses arrived in Poland from Ukraine early yesterday.
The group comprised 11 Taiwanese and nine spouses of other nationalities.
Staff from the representative office in Warsaw met the group at the Ukraine-Poland border, the ministry said, adding that office personnel would assist evacuees in returning home or traveling to a third country.
So far, 47 Taiwanese and their spouses have left Ukraine, either on their own or with the help of the government, it added.
Nine Taiwanese, including two newborns, are still in Ukraine, and the government is ready to evacuate them if they want to, the ministry said.
In the event of an emergency, Taiwanese in Ukraine can call Taiwan’s office in Moscow at +7-969-008-6111 or contact the Taiwan Trade Center in Kyiv, which is run by the Taiwan External Trade Development Council, at +380-44-537-0982, to seek assistance, it said.
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