Taiwan Church News
3871 Edition
4 ~ 10 May, 2026
Weekly Topical

Resilience and Friendship Witnessed in Taiwan’s Oversea Aid to Ukraine

Reported by Chiu Kuo-rong

A total amount of 68 ambulances and first-aid automobiles jointly raised by Taiwan’s civil society successfully arrived in Ukraine on April 23. These vehicles were distributed to Ukrainian cities, like Lviv, Kharkiv and Kupyansk, for front-line rescue and medical supports.

Rev. Lin Wei-lian, general secretary of Taiwan Community Care Association and former secretary of PCT Church and Society Committee, said that this donation event has been prepared for a long time as a joint-cooperation between Taiwan’s public and private sectors. “The mission not only responds to the actual needs of the Ukrainian people fighting against the invasion from Russia, but also makes Taiwan’s resilient support more visible internationally,” he said.

In the interview on May 1, Rev Lin pointed out that the donation of vehicles was started in the early days after the outbreak of Ukraine-Russian War, and Taiwan society had a strong willing to stand by Ukraine.

In the early days of wars in Ukraine, except those medical prevention materials for pandemic, medical beds were also donated, and a medical team was even sent by MacKay Memorial Hospital into Ukraine. The project of such vehicles handover donation is the fourth operation, and more than 200 rescue vehicles in various kinds were offered. These vehicles for medical and first-aid use were loaded on board near Hong Kong in November, 2025 and arrived in Ukraine in April this 2026.

Rev Lin said that their past first-aid operations were mostly carried out through indirect channels, and related informations were kept highly secret due to security concerns. This time, due to the support of Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its suggestion to be open and transparent, the Lviv Municipal Government coordinated the vehicles distribution and public representation to the public in Ukraine.

The final destinations of where these vehicles sent were all clearly specified, and it was reported widely by the national TV channels in Ukraine, so that Taiwan’s assistance to Ukraine was well known to the public in Ukraine. “It is the most practical and the most successful first-aid action to stand by Ukraine up to date,” Rev Lin affirmed.

During the ceremony of vehicles handover, a representative of the Ukrainian front-line military officer took down his military badge on his uniform and gave it to Rev Lin. The event symbolized the true friendship in a malice war, which impressed Rev Lin so much. “It was a true camaraderie after people experiencing so many life and death, and it convinces people a goodwill to help friends really matters,” he stressed.

As local medical systems were found still facing serious shortages of resources during his visit of the First Hospital in White Church City, Kiev Province, Rev Lin was especially touched when many medical beds attached with a logo of “burning but not destroyed” – the emblem of the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan, which had been showcased in hospitals for four years.

Rev Lin pointed out that there was still a shortage of medical personnel’s in local areas across Ukraine, and the medical equipments used in nursing schools were even so incredibly outdated as from former Soviet Union period. This is because new medical equipments are always sent to the war fronts as first priority. So, Rev Lin called Taiwan medical communities to carry on caring for Ukraine with better medical resources.

Rev Lin also revealed that he was bombed by a missile during his trip to Kiev, and even the factory he originally planned to visit was blown up in a Russian army’s attack. It’s interesting that local Ukrainians later picked up a piece of missile fragments and gave it to him as a souvenir.

After the vehicles handover ceremony, leaders of each Ukrainian unit immediately drove away the vehicles to avoid becoming a target to be attacked by the Russian drones. Nevertheless, daily lives of local people has gradually returned to normal, banks and shops have operated as usual, showing a very strong social resilience in Ukraine.

Rev Lin also found that Ukrainian society showed a high degree of national solidarity and cultural identity during the war. For example, when the funeral parade of the killed-in-action soldiers passed by, passers-by would spontaneously stop the car and kneel down to salute; churches and schools would also commemorate these soldiers. Rev Lin thought that the civilian resilient defense and national solidarity campaigned by the Ukrainian government is a great model for Taiwan to follow.

For Taiwan, Rev Lin gave his two appeals: first, even facing the threat of war, as long as we are readily prepared, we don’t have to be afraid; second, Taiwan has to strengthen national defense and social resilience in emergency.

He stressed that the experience of Ukraine shows that even if they continue to be under attack, the people can still maintain the order of daily lives. “The key lies in the mindset to prepare ready and a common will to defend the country,” he said.

Before the vehicles handover ceremony, he held a video conference with leaders of those front-line local governments giving thanks to those vehicles for medical and emergency use, Rev Lin replied that he hoped to support more resources to Ukraine in the future, so that Taiwan society would have the capability to face the crisis in the future.

Translated by Peter Wolfe