Taiwanese businessman donates disaster relief trucks to Ukraine

Taipei, Nov. 9 (CNA) Taiwanese businessman Pai Tsan-jung (白璨榮) is donating another 60 disaster relief vehicles that he refurbished to Ukraine, he announced at a donation ceremony in Changhua County on Saturday.

The vehicles consist of firetrucks, ambulances, rehab buses and pickup trucks that were provided with the help of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), the National Fire Agency (NFA), local fire departments and Taiwan Power Co. and refurbished.

Pai, the chairman of Sun Jen Textile Co., Ltd., had previously donated 140 service trucks in three shipments over the past two years, making this his fourth donation.

Describing his efforts as something "he was supposed to do," Pai said he put up most of the funds to overhaul the vehicles and plans to pay the cost of transporting them to Europe.

The businessman thanked his employees for making more than 100,000 phone calls over the last two years to bring together all those involved in the donation project.

Among those attending the ceremony were Eric Huang (黃鈞耀), head of MOFA's Department of European Affairs, NFA Director-General Hsiao Huan-chang (蕭煥章), and Taiwan Association of Community Advancement head Chang Tsai-kai (張再凱).

Huang said the donation was initiated by the private sector and supported by cooperation from the central and local governments, showing that "Taiwan can help" is not merely a slogan, but the consensus of Taiwan's people.

Also attending the ceremony were around 20 Ukrainians in Taiwan, who gathered to mourn Wu Chung-ta (吳忠達), a Taiwanese soldier who fought as a volunteer soldier in Ukraine and recently died on the front lines.

Meanwhile, they presented a certificate of gratitude to Taiwan on behalf of Ukrainian non-government organizations.