A total of 116 Taiwanese yesterday morning arrived home from Warsaw on board a charter flight operated by LOT Polish Airlines, after being stranded in the European country for months due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
It was also the first-ever direct passenger flight between Taiwan and Poland, said the Polish Office in Taipei, the de facto Polish embassy in Taiwan in the absence of diplomatic relations.
The two countries signed an air transport agreement in March 2015.
Photo: Tony Yao, Taipei Times
The airplane landed at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 6:24am after a 13-hour flight.
The plane had to make a three-hour detour, as it was not allowed to fly over China.
The passengers, mostly students and businesspeople, were quarantined upon arrival for 14 days in accordance with the Central Epidemic Command Center’s instructions after undergoing initial health checks.
The charter flight was made possible through the efforts of Lin’s International Consulting Co Ltd, an overseas student service, and coordination between Taiwan’s Civil Aeronautics Administration and LOT.
It took the parties involved three to four weeks to arrange the charter flight, Lin’s International said.
There would be three more such flights to evacuate Taiwanese from Poland in the near term, the company said.
Without the charter flights, the Taiwanese in Poland would have had to travel to Germany by land for more than 10 hours before they could board a flight home, which could increase the risk of infection, it added.
The Taoyuan airport assigned ground personnel and cleaning staff as early as 2am to prepare for the arrival and arranged six buses to take the passengers to designated quarantine centers.
ONE LAST TALK: While Xi said that Taiwan was a ‘red line,’ Biden, in what is likely his last meeting with Xi as president, called for an end to China’s military activity around Taiwan China’s military intimidation and economic coercion against Taiwan are the main causes of tensions that are destabilizing peace in the Taiwan Strait, Taipei said yesterday while thanking US President Joe Biden for expressing Washington’s firm stance of maintaining peace and stability in the region. Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) met on Saturday for their third meeting and their first talks in seven months on the sidelines of the APEC forum in Lima, Peru. It was likely Biden’s last meeting as president with Xi. During their conversation, Biden reiterated the US’ opposition to any unilateral change to the “status quo” from either
Taiwan would participate in the 2026 APEC summit to be hosted by China after Beijing promised it would ensure the personal safety of attendees, Taiwanese national security sources said yesterday. The APEC Leaders’ Machu Picchu Declaration announced yesterday said that China would host the APEC summit in 2026. Beijing proposed hosting the summit shortly before this year’s gathering began on Friday, a national security official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Many APEC members expressed concerns about China hosting the event and said that prior communication over the decision was insufficient, the official said. Taiwan brought up concerns about legal “guidelines” China announced in
SUPPORT: Arms sales to NATO Plus countries such as Japan, South Korea and Israel only have to be approved by the US Congress if they exceed US$25m The US should amend a law to add Taiwan to the list of “NATO Plus” allies and streamline future arms sales, a US commission said on Tuesday in its annual report to the US Congress. The recommendation was made in the annual report by the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC), which contained chapters on US-China economic and trade ties, security relations, and Taiwan and Hong Kong. In the chapter on Taiwan, the commission urged the US Congress to “amend the Arms Export Control Act of 1976 to include Taiwan on the list of ‘NATO Plus’ recipients,” referring to
Minister of Labor Ho Pei-shan (何佩珊) said she would tender her resignation following criticism of her handling of alleged bullying by Ministry of Labor Workforce Development Agency branch director Hsieh Yi-jung (謝宜容) resulting in the death of an employee. The ministry yesterday gave Hsieh two demerits and said she is subject to review by the Disciplinary Court. The severest possible punishment would be her removal from office and being barred from government jobs indefinitely. Workforce Development Agency Director-General Tsai Meng-liang (蔡孟良) also received a major demerit and was transferred to another position. Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) issued a formal apology
RSS