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進入《TAIPEI TIMES》 Nation, EU ‘strong together’
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen gives a news conference after a video conference on COVID-19 with EU leaders at the European Council Building in Brussels on March 17. Photo: AFP
By Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporter
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen yesterday thanked Taiwan for a donation of masks, while the Ministry of Foreign Affairs acknowledged the gratitude and echoed her “Stronger together” sentiment amid the pandemic.
Appreciative postings from foreign representative offices in Taiwan have been popping up on social media since President Tsai Ing-wen （蔡英文） on Wednesday announced that Taiwan would donate 10 million masks — nearly the nation’s one-day production capacity — to countries hit hard by the pandemic.
European Economic and Trade Office Director Filip Grzegorzewski on Wednesday wrote on Twitter: “#Taiwanhelps is the new hashtag.”
“The European Union thanks Taiwan for its donation of 5.6 million masks to help fight the #coronavirus. We really appreciate this gesture of solidarity,” Von der Leyen wrote on Twitter yesterday. “Acts like this show that we are #StrongerTogether.”
Taiwan and the EU have been like-minded partners, and the EU has been supporting Taiwan’s bid to join the WHO, the ministry said in a statement yesterday.
The EU has been hit hard by the pandemic, so Taiwan is offering a timely helping hand and supporting the EU with concrete action, demonstrating the reality of “Taiwan can help and Taiwan is helping” and the benefits of being “Stronger together,” it added.
Taiwan and European countries are also benefiting from each other’s experience in coping with COVID-19, including best practices in disease prevention, and research and development on rapid test reagents, vaccination possibilities and effective drugs, it said.
“Hopefully, Taiwan and the EU will be able to speed up cooperation on producing medical resources for disease prevention, which would further benefit people of both sides,” it said.
Asked about Taiwan’s donation of masks, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Hua Chunying （華春瑩） on Wednesday said that as the US is faced with a severe outbreak, some local governments and businesses in China have offered as much help as they can to Americans.
If Taiwan is able and willing to offer help, China is glad to see the outcome, she said, but added that Taiwan be wary of any Taiwanese aiming to use the pandemic as an opportunity for political plotting.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
