Wed, Dec 23, 2020 page3

• Profit furor over Czech mask donation

  MISUNDERSTANDING? The government said it would withdraw from the production line donation, but the Tainan firm denied that it would involve any commercial profit

  • By Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporter
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  The government would withdraw from a firm’s plan to “donate” mask production lines to the Czech Republic if it involves the Taiwanese company making a profit, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday, while announcing that the ministry would also donate a mask production line to Prague through government channels.

  The Central News Agency (CNA) on Sunday reported that Tainan-based automatic device manufacturer Autoland Technology Co (東建安) was set to realize its promise to Czech Senate President Milos Vystrcil to donate five automated mask production lines to the European nation, a promise it made in September to thank Vystrcil for visiting Taiwan.

  Due to political and legal issues, the company was planning to donate four lines to Czech businesses and a fifth to the Czech government, although the government-to-government route might not be workable, CNA said.

  

  Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-cher, second right, visits Autoland Technology Co in Tainan in an undated photograph.

  Photo courtesy of Tainan City Government

  However, the “donation” is being overshadowed by the questions about whether it would involve Autoland making a profit and how the recipients of the lines were picked.

  Ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) at a news briefing in Taipei said that Autoland initially planned to donate five mask production lines to the Czech government, but it has since opted to donate four lines to Czech businesses.

  If such a donation was made to the Czech government, the ministry would be glad to see it happen, Ou said, adding that if the donation were made to Czech businesses and involved Autoland making a profit, neither the Taiwanese nor Czech governments would be involved.

  “If it is a charitable donation, it should be free of profit-making; if it is a business transaction, the company should follow the regulations in the recipient nation,” she said.

  The government plans to donate a mask production line to the Czech government, Ou said, adding that the ministry would provide further information when the details of the donation had been agreed.

  The government’s donation is for humanitarian reasons and would be made through its own channels without involving the company, she said.

  Autoland general manager Kuo Li-lin (郭立霖) said via telephone that the company’s donation does not involve any commercial profit, but there are some tax issues to be tackled.

  The government had promised to help with air freight costs, but now the company would pay for the shipment itself, he said.

  Autoland could not make the donation to the Czech government because Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis said it would not accept donations from Taiwan, he added.

  The recipient of the company’s donation would be the European Centralised Virtual Vehicle Register, an enterprise cofounded by Czech materials supplier InoCure and mask producer Good Mask, Kuo said, adding that 5 percent of the masks produced would be donated to the Czech Senate for distribution to state medical facilities.

  The Czech-Taiwanese Business Chamber helped to select the recipients, after Autoland required that the recipients be friendly to Taiwan, familiar with mask production and able to visit Taiwan for technical training, he said.
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