Foreign Minister Jaushieh Joseph Wu was awarded the Czechia Senate President’s Silver Medal for outstanding contributions to deepening relations between Taiwan and the EU member state during a special ceremony Oct. 27 in Prague.
Presented by Milos Vystrcil, head of the legislative body, the prestigious honor has also been bestowed upon Slovakia President Zuzana Caputova. It was established in 2006 by former Czech Senate President Premysl Sobokta, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
During Wu’s acceptance speech, he said the honor belongs to the 23.5 million people of Taiwan, and quoted late Czechia President Vaclav Havel: “The salvation of this human world lies nowhere else than in the human heart.”
According to Wu, Taiwan is on the front line of authoritarianism and is fully committed to defending democratic institutions while helping safeguard freedom and human rights worldwide.
Wu also took the opportunity to commend Vystrcil for leading an 89-member delegation to Taiwan in 2020 despite pressure from China. The historic visit was a sparkling success and laid the foundations for the countries to expand ties into a comprehensive relationship, he said.
During the post-ceremony news conference, Wu said the like-minded partners enjoy mutually beneficial cooperation in areas spanning culture, education, health management, information security, science and technology, tourism, and trade and investment.
As the international community moves toward a post-pandemic recovery, Wu said he expects both sides to cultivate more opportunities for enhanced supply chain restructuring and people-to-people exchanges.
The MOFA tweeted on its official Twitter account “Minister Wu was honored to receive from @Vystrcil_Milos the @SenatCZ President’s Silver Medal for outstanding contributions to deepening #Taiwan-#Czechia relations. He said the award belongs to the 23.5 million people of Taiwan & quoted late President Vaclav Havel: ‘The salvation of this human world lies nowhere else than in the human heart.’” (SFC-E)
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