Israel is an important global start-up hub, and hopefully, based on shared values of democracy and freedom, Taiwan and Israel can continue to deepen their partnership and leverage their respective strengths to build more resilient global supply chains together, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said yesterday.
Tsai made the remarks in a meeting with a delegation from the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, at the Presidential Office in Taipei.
The cross-party delegation was led by Taiwan-Israel Parliamentary Friendship Group chair Boaz Toporovsky.
Photo: Screenshot from the Presidential Office’s Web site
It has been more than 30 years since Israel and Taiwan mutually established representative offices, and both countries have worked closely and held regular dialogues in the fields of energy, environment and economics, Tsai said.
Over the past three decades, Taiwan and Israel have also signed 33 agreements and enhanced exchanges in the fields of education and public health, she said, adding that a joint declaration of tourism collaboration was signed last month.
Taiwan’s Industrial Technology Research Institute, Asia Silicon Valley Development Agency and other companies hope to have more cooperation opportunities with Israel, Tsai said.
In reference to Iran launching an unprecedented large-scale drone and missile attack on Israel on Saturday evening, Tsai also expressed her sincere concern and condolences, and condemned the use of violence to destroy world peace.
Taiwan is a beacon of freedom and democracy, and Tsai is a role model of democracy and freedom leadership, Toporovsky said.
He expressed his condolences to the victims of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien, and added that the quake has once again shown Taiwan’s strength and resilience to the world.
Taiwan and Israel are good friends, and although people in both countries face difficult situations, both are small and strong democratic countries, and that friendship would become more stable, while cooperation would continue to expand, he said.
Later yesterday at a press conference, Toporovsky said the delegation appreciated the collaboration between Taiwan and Israel and the support shown by Tsai and Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) in the wake of the Iranian attacks.
Regarding what Israel needs at the moment, Boaz Bismuth, one of the four delegation members, said that with 120,000 people forced to evacuate from their homes, Israel needs humanitarian aid, and he said the international community should care about the situation there.
"I think Taiwan felt exactly the grief in which we were the first day [after the attack], and solidarity is the word," he said.
Separately, all Taiwanese nationals in Iran and Israel have been reported safe, Wu said yesterday.
Currently, there are a little more than 20 Taiwanese expatriates who are now naturalized Iranians living in the West Asian country, Wu said.
More than 200 Taiwanese nationals and their spouses and children are in Israel, data from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs showed.
The ministry also called on people to refrain from traveling to both countries due to heightened tensions in the Middle East.
It has also issued the second highest-level orange alert for both Israel and Iran.
The ministry uses a four-tiered travel advisory regarding safety and security risks. The lowest level, grey, signifies caution should be exercised; yellow suggests travel should be reconsidered; orange indicates unnecessary travel should be avoided; and red asks nationals not to travel to a destination.
People can call Taiwan’s representative offices in Israel at +972-544-275-204 and in Dubai at +971-50-6453018, as well as the Taiwan Trade Center in Tehran at +98-21-8879-4243.
Additional reporting by CNA
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