Jiří Drahoš (2nd from right), chairman of the Czech Senate Committee on Education, Culture, Science and Technology, Human Rights and Petitions, led a delegation to visit Taiwan and held a press conference today.

From left are Michal Lukeš, Director of the Czech National Museum, Jana Havlíková, Czech Deputy Minister of Science and Technology, Radka Wildová, Czech Deputy Minister of Education, and Dragos.

(Photo by reporter Yang Chengyu)

[Reporter Yang Chengyu/Taipei Report] Jiří Drahoš, chairman of the Czech Senate Committee on Education, Culture, Science and Technology, Human Rights and Petitions, led a delegation to visit Taiwan on the 18th. He held a press conference today (23rd) and said that the Taiwan Strait is a global One of the "quite challenging" areas is that peace, stability and the status quo in the Taiwan Strait are crucial to future cooperation between Taiwan and Europe.

From this perspective, neither they nor other European delegations visiting Taiwan in the future should respond with military exercises or live ammunition.

Draghos said that his relationship with Taiwan is divided into three stages. The first stage is as a scholar. In 1988, he first communicated with Taiwan. At that time, he was in contact with the Department of Mechanical Engineering of National Taiwan University. However, Czechoslovakia was still a communist at that time. Therefore, it is impossible to come to Taiwan in person.

After the democratization of the Czech Republic, he visited Taiwan twice in the 1990s, visiting National Taiwan University, National Chengchi University, Bamboo Branch, etc. The second and last time was in 1997.

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In the second stage of the exchange between Drajos and Taiwan, as the president of the Czech National Academy of Sciences, he vigorously promoted cooperation with Taiwan.

And the third stage is now, working with Taiwan as a senator.

"For me, Taiwan is always in my heart," said Delajos, who fell in love with the island when he first came to Taiwan, and had a lot of time to walk around.

This trip marks his second visit to Taiwan after 25 years. Not only has the economy achieved amazing achievements, but Taiwan has become a fully democratic society.

Although he didn't have time to go out to see it, he believed that his fellow members would be happy to visit Taiwan again and experience the beauty of Taiwan with his eyes.

Draghos also expressed his desire to open direct flights between Taiwan and the Czech Republic. Before the outbreak of the epidemic, about 250,000 people from Taiwan visited the Czech Republic every year. He believed that this route would be very popular.

According to reports, in 2018, China Airlines considered evaluating the possibility of opening a route between Taipei and Prague.

Michal Lukeš, director of the Czech National Museum, pointed out that the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed with the National Palace Museum and the National Taiwan Museum, opening a new page for the cultural cooperation between Taiwan and the Czech Republic.

For many years, he has always had a dream that the cultural relics of the Forbidden City can be exhibited in the Czech National Museum, not only for the Czechs to appreciate, but also for tourists in various fields.

Although he is well aware that to hold such an exhibition, the process in the middle is long and difficult, and the legal framework has to be overcome; but signing the MOU today is a big step towards his dream, so he is sure that the wish will end can come true.

As for whether the Chinese office in the Czech Republic (the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in the Czech Republic) should be renamed Taiwan, Drajos said that they have good interaction and happy cooperation with the Chinese foreign embassy, ​​but the matter involves political issues, and he is not the government Members, it is inconvenient to respond.

The chairman of the Czech Senate Committee on Education, Culture, Science and Technology, Human Rights and Petitions Draghos led a delegation to visit Taiwan and held a press conference today.

From left are Lukaki, Director of the Czech National Museum, Vidova, Deputy Minister of Education of the Czech Republic, Halikova, Deputy Minister of the Czech Ministry of Science and Technology, Dragos, Czech Representative to Taiwan Stange, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Ou Jiangan, and Taiwan Representative to the Czech Republic Corey Rui.

(Photo by reporter Yang Chengyu)