TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan’s envoy to the Czech Republic Ke Liang-ruey (柯良叡) hosted a National Day reception in Prague on Wednesday (Sept. 29), with Czech Senate President Milos Vystrcil and other senators and deputies attending.

The National Day reception was held Wednesday evening at the Zofin Palace in Prague. Among the hundreds of guests present were: Vystrcil; Chief Deputy Speaker Jiri Ruzicka; Vera Kuberova, wife of late Deputy Speaker Jaroslav Kubera; Marek Benda; Chairman of the Czech Republic-Taiwan Parliamentary Platform; and Jan Lipavsk, Vice Chairman of the Chamber of Deputies’ Foreign Affairs Committee.

The Prague Philharmonic Orchestra played the national anthems of Taiwan and the Czech Republic.

Kei said he was grateful for the vaccines the Czech Republic donated to Taiwan and pointed out that since Vystrcil’s visit to Taiwan, the two countries have made considerable progress in bilateral exchanges. These exchanges have been in the fields of nanotechnology, space development, infectious disease prevention, and information and communication technology.

The representative said Taiwan will send an economic and trade delegation to the Czech Republic next month, in the hopes of establishing a platform for bilateral cooperation, per CNA. 

Vystrcil said that democratic countries should not succumb to authoritarian regimes. Only unity can overcome the intimidation of authoritarianism, he added.