The Ministry of Foreign Affairs rebutted allegations of dishonest handling of donations, after Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Hsu Chiao-hsin (徐巧芯) said on Thursday last week that the ministry had been dishonest about its cooperation with Lithuania and the Czech Republic in offering assistance to Ukraine.
The monetary donation made by Taiwan in these partnerships was allegedly handled by political sponsors or persons with special political influence in the partner countries, she said, questioning how much money was actually sent to help Ukraine.
The ministry said on Saturday that the accusations were “groundless, based on imagination and untrue,” adding that they discredited the efforts of ministry officials, harmed Taiwan’s like-minded partners in Europe and severely damaged the nation’s international image.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
The cooperative projects between Taiwan and its partners in providing humanitarian assistance to Ukraine have all gone through strict reviews and were “open and transparent,” the ministry added.
Hsu made additional statements against the ministry in a Facebook post yesterday, saying that it signed secretive agreements with a Czech medical device supplier under the pretense of aiding Ukraine.
Taiwan put US$10 million into a healthcare aid project with the Czech Republic to assist Ukraine, which would be carried out by the Czech Health Technology Institute, Hsu said.
Hsu asked about the fairness of the project, as it was signed a few months after institute chairman Petr Foit visited Taiwan in March last year, adding that her questions are all based on “concrete information.”
The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Prague and the Czech Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in December last year to establish a three-year partnership to help rebuild Ukraine’s primary healthcare system, the ministry said yesterday.
The MOU also states that 30 to 40 percent of the donation made by Taiwan would be used to purchase medical supplies from Taiwanese manufacturers to promote commercial engagement between the two countries, the ministry said.
The Czech government designated the institute to carry out the project, which would be supervised by the two offices, it said.
After signing the MOU, the ministry submitted it to the Legislative Yuan according to the Conclusion of Treaties Act (條約締結法) and issued a press release announcing the project, the ministry said.
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