TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Prominent Czech Senator Jiri Drahos called for the launch of direct flights between Taiwan and Prague as he met President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Thursday (Sept. 22).

The former Academy of Sciences head, who now chairs the Senate Committee on Education, Science, Culture, Human Rights and Petitions, has been leading a delegation including the deputy ministers of education and of science and technology on the Sept. 18-23 visit.

While the shared values of freedom, democracy, and human rights took center stage during the talks between Tsai and Drahos, the former Czech presidential candidate also advocated closer cooperation between the two countries on practical matters, CNA reported.

He thanked Taiwan for helping his country establish a semiconductor research and development center. If direct flights between Taipei and Prague could take off, they would lead to even closer commercial ties, and might result in the number of Taiwanese tourists exceeding the 200,000 per year who visited before the COVID-19 pandemic, Drahos said.

During his visit, the National Taiwan Museum and the National Museum of the Czech Republic signed an agreement to become sister museums, CNA reported.