Political Upset Over Ukraine Aid
Opposition lawmaker Hsu Chiao-hsin says the government has not been transparent in its disbursement of aid for Ukraine in a joint rebuilding project with the Czech Republic.
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00:00A standoff in Taiwan's legislature over a fund to rebuild Ukraine's war-torn medical
00:04system.
00:06The funding itself isn't the issue.
00:07Instead, it's what the government's done with the money.
00:10Opposition Kuomintang lawmaker Xu Jiaoqing says as a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee,
00:15she has questions.
00:17For this reconstruction project, Taiwan has joined up with the Czech Republic, one of
00:21its closer European partners.
00:23The two sides signed a deal in December.
00:26But that's where Xu says the transparency ends.
00:28She says the government didn't announce it was putting 10 million U.S. dollars into the
00:32project.
00:33She also says it never revealed which Taiwanese companies got the Taiwanese share of the contracts,
00:38or how they won their bids.
00:40Her biggest questions, though, are about the Czech side of the deal, and whether the Czech
00:44contractor, the non-profit Czech Health Technology Institute, was picked appropriately.
01:04But Xu doesn't have evidence of wrongdoing, and the government says its dealings have
01:08been above board.
01:09Xu says the Czech Health Technology Institute, or CHTI, is a private company, not a real
01:23one.
01:24You can check the website to see for yourself.
01:28It clearly states that CHTI is a non-profit organization.
01:33Taiwan isn't the only country where aid for Ukraine has sparked controversy.
01:37But in Taiwan's legislature, questions about transparency and who may end up benefiting
01:42are driving a difficult conversation.