Taiwanese businessman Pai Tsan-jung (白璨榮) announced yesterday that he will donate another 60 refurbished disaster relief vehicles to Ukraine at a donation ceremony in Changhua County.

The vehicles include fire trucks, ambulances, rehabilitation buses, and pickup trucks provided with assistance from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), the National Fire Agency (NFA), local fire departments, and Taiwan Power Co.

Pai, president of Sun Jen Textile Co., previously donated 140 service trucks in three shipments in the past two years, making this his fourth batch of donations.

Photo: CNA

Pai, who described his efforts as something he “had to do,” said he had allocated most of the funds to maintaining the vehicles and planned to pay to ship them to Europe.

The businessman thanked his employees who made more than 100,000 phone calls in the last two years to bring together everyone who participated in the donation project.

Among those attending the ceremony were MOFA’s head of European affairs Eric Huang (黃鈞耀), NFA Director General Hsiao Huan-chang (蕭煥章), and Taiwan Social Development Association president Chang Tsai-kai (張再凱).

Huang stated that the donation was initiated by the private sector and supported by the cooperation of the central and local governments, showing that the phrase “Taiwan can help” is not just a slogan but the consensus of the Taiwanese people.

Approximately 20 Ukrainians living in Taiwan also attended the ceremony. They mourned the death of Wu Chung-ta (吳忠達), a Taiwanese soldier who fought as a volunteer soldier in Ukraine and recently died on the front lines.

They presented a certificate of appreciation to Taiwan on behalf of Ukrainian non-governmental organizations.