Taiwan is donating US$1.2 million to aid Estonia’s efforts to build a shelter for Ukrainian refugees.
Representative to Latvia Andrew Lee (李憲章) on Wednesday signed the agreement on behalf of the Taiwanese government with the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Estonian Centre for International Development to collaborate on the Residential Program for Ukrainian Parentless Children and Foster Families.
“Together, we are standing for democracy and showing authoritarian regimes that like-minded allies will stick together and prevail,” ERR News quoted Estonia-Taiwan Friendship Group chair Kristo Enn Vaga as saying.
Photo courtesy of the Taipei Mission in the Republic of Latvia
The signing ceremony took place at the Estonian parliament, and was attended by six lawmakers: Vaga, Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Marko Mihkelson and members Luisa Roivas, Kalle Laanet, Karmen Joller and Katrin Kuusemae. More than 30 guests, including government officials and Association of Ukrainian Organisations in Estonia chairperson Volodymyr Palamar, were present.
The program is Estonia’s and Taiwan’s second collaboration to provide humanitarian assistance to Ukraine.
The Taiwanese government and people have donated about US$120 million and 800 tonnes of humanitarian and medical aid to Ukraine since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war in 2022, Lee said.
They have also assisted Ukraine in recovering and rebuilding its homeland in collaboration with countries and organizations that share its values, including Poland, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, he said.
The US$1 million donated by the Taipei Mission in the Republic of Latvia on behalf of the Taiwanese government to the Estonia Refugee Council in May 2022 has set a precedent for Taiwan’s and Estonia’s collaboration in aiding Ukraine, he added.
Taiwan’s donation to the program significantly helps to support Ukrainian children and stabilize society in Ukraine, Vaga said, adding that the alliance of values between Taiwan and Ukraine established through the program by Estonia has both diplomatic and humanitarian significance.
CAUTION: Based on intelligence from the nation’s security agencies, MOFA has cautioned Taiwanese travelers about heightened safety risks in China-friendly countries The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday urged Taiwanese to be aware of their safety when traveling abroad, especially in countries that are friendly to China. China in June last year issued 22 guidelines that allow its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death so-called “diehard” Taiwanese independence activists, even though Chinese courts have no jurisdiction in Taiwan. Late last month, a senior Chinese official gave closed-door instructions to state security units to implement the guidelines in countries friendly to China, a government memo and a senior Taiwan security official said, based on information gathered by Taiwan’s intelligence agency. The
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said yesterday that it is looking to hire 8,000 people this year, at a time when the tech giant is expanding production capacity to maintain its lead over competitors. To attract talent, TSMC would launch a large-scale recruitment campaign on campuses across Taiwan, where a newly recruited engineer with a master’s degree could expect to receive an average salary of NT$2.2 million (US$60,912), which is much higher than the 2023 national average of NT$709,000 for those in the same category, according to government statistics. TSMC, which accounted for more than 60 percent
Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢), a Taiwanese businessman and deputy convener of the nation’s National Climate Change Committee, said yesterday that “electrical power is national power” and nuclear energy is “very important to Taiwan.” Tung made the remarks, suggesting that his views do not align with the country’s current official policy of phasing out nuclear energy, at a forum organized by the Taiwan People’s Party titled “Challenges and Prospects of Taiwan’s AI Industry and Energy Policy.” “Taiwan is currently pursuing industries with high added- value and is developing vigorously, and this all requires electricity,” said the chairman
RSS