Taipei, Nov. 15 (CNA) A farewell ceremony to honor Tseng Sheng-guang (曾聖光), a Taiwanese volunteer who died earlier this month fighting for Ukraine, was held on Monday in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, with Tseng's family members on hand.
The ceremony was organized for the 25-year-old Tseng by the Ukrainian military at a local church and attended by Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi and more than 100 Ukrainians along with members of Tseng's family, Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said in a statement.
Some of the Ukrainians attending the ceremony were seen wearing a T-shirt showing "Team Taiwan" in Chinese characters while holding the national flags of both Ukraine and the Republic of China (Taiwan), the statement said.
During the ceremony, a representative of the Ukrainian military gave a medal and a Ukrainian national flag to one of Tseng's family members in recognition of the Taiwanese soldier's sacrifice.
The body of Tseng was also displayed in a casket, allowing his family members and friends to say their final goodbyes, according to MOFA.
Taiwan's representative to Poland Bob Chen (陳龍錦) accompanied Tseng's family members, who flew from Taiwan to Ukraine after learning of his passing, at Monday's farewell ceremony, MOFA said.
Also known as Jonathan, Tseng had previously served four years in the Taiwanese army from 2017 to 2021, and on Aug. 19 he joined the ranks of the Carpathian Sich, an infantry unit made up of foreign and Ukrainian volunteers.
The Hualien native died in the battlefield on Nov. 2 while performing a combat mission in the contested Luhansk region, making him the first Taiwanese volunteer combatant to die in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.
In an interview with CNA, meanwhile, Ukrainian parliamentarian Inna Sovsun on Monday said she saw Tseng as a "Ukrainian soldier," "not because the circumstances turned out that way, but because he chose it."
"Tseng had a sense of duty for freedom. For four years, he prepared to defend his motherland from Chinese invaders, but he went to defend a foreign country, which faced the same threat as his," Sovsun told CNA.
"This is a devotion to one's work and one's ideals. We will not forget his courage and his sacrifice," she said.
"His death will not be in vain. Ukraine will win. And when Taiwan needs support, I think Ukrainians will come, as Tseng came to help in a time of need," Sovsun said.
Another Ukrainian parliamentarian, Kira Rudik, told CNA that what Tseng did, going to the other side of the earth to fight for democracy, was heroic.
"We salute Tseng as a friend of Ukraine and will remember his sacrifice," she said.
