The government will continue to support a humanitarian group in the Czech Republic that provides services to Ukrainian refugees, a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) and the group in Prague on Tuesday said.
The MOU paves the way for a new round of cooperation between Taiwan and the Czech group — People in Need — in a joint effort to assist Ukrainian refugees in the Czech Republic, the ministry said on Wednesday.
Through the joint project, the Czech group would provide shelter for young Ukrainians fleeing the ongoing war at home and offer counseling services to refugees in the Czech Republic, ministry said.
Photo: Huang Chin-hsuen, Taipei Times
With a budget of US$283,252, the project, which is to run until the end of this year, is expected to help 4,825 displaced Ukrainians, the ministry told the Central News Agency, without specifying if the government would be the source of the funding.
Taiwan in 2022 donated US$1 million to People in Need to support its programs aiding the education and integration of displaced Ukrainian children in Czech schools, along with other assistance.
The US$1 million in funding was part of the US$32 million that the ministry raised from private citizens in Taiwan shortly after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The MOU was signed between Representative to the Czech Republic Ke Liang-ruey (柯良叡) and People in Need executive director Simon Panek.
The deal was lauded by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中), who took part in the signing ceremony remotely from Taipei, as another “milestone” for Taiwan-Czechia collaborations in their help for Ukraine, the ministry said in a news release.
Panek was cited in the release as expressing gratitude for Taiwan’s aid to Ukraine, citing how countless Ukrainian refugees had benefited from Taiwan’s support.
The ministry in its release also reaffirmed Taiwan’s commitment to supporting Ukraine as the war continues and to keep working with the Czech Republic to provide humanitarian assistance to Ukrainian refugees.
Czech Commissioner for Human Rights Klara Simackova Laurencikova also took part in the signing ceremony in Prague, the release said.
Founded in 1992, People in Need has grown to become the largest humanitarian organization in the Czech Republic and one of the most important non-governmental organizations in central and eastern Europe, the ministry said.
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
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Taitung County at 1:09pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 53km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 12.5km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Taitung County and Hualien County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Nantou County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage following the quake.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) is to begin his one-year alternative military service tomorrow amid ongoing legal issues, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. Wang, who last month was released on bail of NT$150,000 (US$4,561) as he faces charges of allegedly attempting to evade military service and forging documents, has been ordered to report to Taipei Railway Station at 9am tomorrow, the Alternative Military Service Training and Management Center said. The 33-year-old would join about 1,300 other conscripts in the 263rd cohort of general alternative service for training at the Chenggong Ling camp in Taichung, a center official told reporters. Wang would first
A BETRAYAL? It is none of the ministry’s business if those entertainers love China, but ‘you cannot agree to wipe out your own country,’ the MAC minister said Taiwanese entertainers in China would have their Taiwanese citizenship revoked if they are holding Chinese citizenship, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said. Several Taiwanese entertainers, including Patty Hou (侯佩岑) and Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜), earlier this month on their Weibo (微博) accounts shared a picture saying that Taiwan would be “returned” to China, with tags such as “Taiwan, Province of China” or “Adhere to the ‘one China’ principle.” The MAC would investigate whether those Taiwanese entertainers have Chinese IDs and added that it would revoke their Taiwanese citizenship if they did, Chiu told the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper
RSS