Taiwan is to donate US$500,000 to Hawaii for disaster relief and reconstruction after wildfires, as well as US$600,000 to Bucha, Ukraine, for war reconstruction and air defense shelters, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday.
More than 100 people were killed, hundreds are missing, thousands of buildings were destroyed and billions of dollars of damage was caused as one of the deadliest wildfires in the US ravaged the island of Maui.
The ministry is donating to Hawaii to help with disaster relief and reconstruction operations, as well as to demonstrate the friendship between Taiwan and the US, it said in a statement.
Photo: Lu Yi-hsuan, Taipei Times
The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Honolulu is arranging the donation with the Hawaii state government, the ministry said.
The donation is most likely to be made to the Maui Strong Fund, which was set up by the Hawaii Community Foundation, the ministry said.
Taiwan hopes that people in Maui can rebuild their homes and return to normal life as soon as possible, it said.
“Taiwan can help and Taiwan is helping,” it added.
Meanwhile, Representative to Poland Sharon Wu (吳尚年) on Wednesday signed an agreement with Bucha Mayor Anatoliy Fedoruk in Warsaw to help the Ukrainian city build air defense shelters, the ministry said.
The donation is also to help reconstruct a children’s sports school damaged by Russian airstrikes to provide a place for the city’s young people to learn and play sports, it said.
Taiwanese, who also face threats from an authoritarian regime, empathize with the plight of the Ukrainians, Wu said.
Taiwan helped the city build 11 air defense shelters, and repair one kindergarten and nine houses in April last year, benefiting more than 1,000 Ukrainian families, the ministry said.
Taiwan would continue to cooperate with other democracies to assist Ukraine in its rebuilding efforts, she said.
Fedoruk thanked Taiwan for the donation and said that despite being thousands of kilometers apart, Ukraine and Taiwan are connected due to their commitment to democracy and freedom.
Taiwan has demonstrated its solidarity with Ukraine through words and concrete actions by protecting the lives of people in Bucha and providing opportunities for the future of the city’s children, he said.
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