Secretariat, Taipei City Government

The war between Ukraine and Russia has precipitated the largest wave of refugees since the Second World War. Among the Ukrainian refugees, whose number has exceeded 3.5 million, over 2.1 million fled to Poland. In just one week, 300,000 refugees escaped into the capital of Poland, Warsaw, which is approximately 15% of the capital’s population. Warsaw, now close to its refugee admissions cap, is seeking help from the international community.
 
Warsaw is a sister city of Taipei City. On the night of March 22, Taipei City Mayor Ko Wen-je talked to Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski on a video call. In this call, Ko expressed his admiration for Trzaskowski’s decision to admit the refugees. He also asked Trzaskowski to share how they were coping with the refugee situation to see if there was anything Taipei City could help. Trzaskowski was touched by the offer and said that Taipei City was one of the first cities offering help to them. He also thanked Taipei City for standing by them during such a difficult time.
 
In addition to Mayor Ko and the Commissioner of Mayor’s Office for External Affairs, Chou Tai-chu, this video call was also joined by Chen Li-Kuo (Director-General of European Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs), Chen Long-jin (Ambassador of Taipei Representative Office in Poland), Cyryl Jacek Kozaczewski (Director of Polish Office in Taipei), and Bartosz Ryś (Deputy Director of Polish Office in Taipei).
 
According to Mayor Ko, Taipei City would donate €300,000 from its disaster relief account to Warsaw to help with the refugee crisis. Although the donation was not much, it symbolized Taipei City’s sincerity to help. Moreover, the Taiwanese central government’s call for donations to a fundraising account for Ukraine have been responded by people across the nation with over €22 million of donations and counting. Several well-known Taiwanese charity organizations have also offered to help.
 
During the video call, Trzaskowski thanked Taipei City and stated that many of the Ukrainian refugees were unable to take such great pressure and needed psychological treatments. He assured that the donations from Taipei City would be put to good use for helping with Ukrainian refugees’ livelihoods and providing them with everyday necessities such as medical resources.
 
At the end of the call, Mayor Ko talked about Taipei City’s successful digital transformation in its industries under the global COVID-19 pandemic, stating his wishes for a speedy end to both the pandemic and war, and expressing his interest in collaborating with and developing stronger economic and cultural ties with Warsaw. Trzaskowski agreed to it and said he would definitely visit Taipei City after the war. He expressed his love for the oolong tea in Taipei City and was hoping to spark something new between the tea and Polish Whiskey.