Following Lithuania’s announcement last month to donate 20,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine, Central European country Slovakia also announced to provide 10,000 doses of vaccine to Taiwan. Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Ou Jiang-an expressed his heartfelt gratitude, and the Slovak Economic and Cultural Office in Taiwan issued a posting thanking Taiwan for its past kindness during the epidemic. In addition, the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee on Thursday (15) passed by a large margin a motion calling for the EU to discuss a bilateral investment agreement with Taiwan, while continuing to freeze the China-EU comprehensive investment agreement for China.
Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Ou Jiang’an said the Slovak government has offered to donate 10,000 doses of vaccines to Taiwan, and the Foreign Ministry expressed its heartfelt thanks.
In order to express the mutual support among friends and to shape the cycle of international good forces, Slovakia has taken the initiative to donate 10,000 doses of vaccines to Taiwan through the European Civil Protection Mechanism (ECPM),” said Ou. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed its heartfelt gratitude for Slovakia’s sincere friendship and goodwill.
Ou Jiang’an pointed out that Slovakia has close cooperation with Taiwan in various fields and friendly interaction between the government and the private sector at all levels, and is the first EU member state to exempt Taiwan people from quarantine. Early last year, the government and private sector in Taiwan also donated a total of 700,000 masks to Slovakia.
Ou Jiang’an said: the Slovak government to ensure that the donation through the EU mechanism can be successfully completed, is still in the final legal procedures, including the type of vaccine and the confirmation of the delivery schedule and other details. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will maintain close contact with the Slovak government and explain to the people of Slovakia in due course.
DPP legislator Wang Dingyu said that Slovakia donated vaccines to Taiwan because the country was ravaged by the new crown pneumonia epidemic last year and the situation was serious, and Taiwan immediately provided assistance at that time.
Wang Dingyu said: This makes the Slovakians feel very much, our Taiwan is May 15 outbreak of 180 cases of local epidemic, Slovakia actually decided to help Taiwan as early as the end of May, they decided to donate 10,000 doses of vaccine.
Wang stressed that people may think that 10,000 doses of vaccine is not much, but for a country affected by the new crown pneumonia epidemic, it is very valuable.
Wang said: “This is because of the friendship of mutual help between countries, it is Taiwan’s good deeds and the kindness of Taiwanese people, to win the Slovakian people feel and return, this is a very valuable action in the international community. So we thank Slovakia, as for their donation of vaccines, should be shipped through the European Union, we thank such good friends.
DPP spokesperson Hsieh Pei-Fen said that Taiwan’s central and local governments had donated 700,000 masks to Slovakia last year, and now Slovakia has announced a donation of vaccines to Taiwan at a time when the global epidemic is severe, which is the “cycle of goodness” and shows that friends help each other to overcome difficulties.
The friendship between Taiwan and Slovakia is not only based on common values, but also on the efforts of frontline diplomats, said Hsieh Pei-Fen. The DPP expects that with the mutual support of friendly countries, the world will be able to overcome the epidemic as soon as possible.
The Slovak Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei said in a post on social networking sites on Friday (16) that Slovakia has not forgotten its friends and that Taiwan donated masks to Slovakia a year ago in a snowstorm. Now Slovakia will also contribute its own modest contribution by donating 10,000 doses of vaccines to Taiwan to show its support.
When Czech Senate President Miloš Vystrčil led a delegation to Taiwan last year and was attacked by Beijing, Slovak President Zuzana Caputova was the first to speak out in support of Vetzi and stressed that it was unacceptable for China to intimidate EU countries.
In May, the Slovak Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee voted to support Taiwan’s participation in the World Health Assembly (WHA). This is the first time that the Slovak Parliament has discussed and voted on Taiwan’s participation in the WHA, demonstrating a Taiwan-friendly stance.
In addition, the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee on Thursday (15) passed by a large margin a motion calling on the EU to develop a new draft strategy report to deal with China, and calling on the EU to discuss a bilateral investment agreement with Taiwan. Instead, the motion calls for a continued freeze on the China-EU comprehensive investment agreement until the Chinese side lifts sanctions against MEPs and EU institutions.
The motion was passed with 58 votes in favor and 8 votes against. The motion is critical of China’s human rights problems and calls for regular human rights dialogues between China and Europe to address issues including Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong. It also calls for China to allow independent investigations into the source of the new epidemic, and argues that the EU should cooperate with China in the areas of health crises and climate change.
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