At the end of February this year (2020) when the COVID-19 epidemic began heatingheated up in Taiwan, Hsinchu County's sister city, Westmont Village in Chicago, USA, donated 1,400 masks to Hsinchu County to help the county in its epidemic prevention. Today, half a year later, the total number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the United States has exceeded 5.4 million. To help its sister city fight the severe epidemic, the Hsinchu County Government has in turn donated 10,000 masks, 1,000 mask cases and 500 protective clothing to Westmont Village.
According to County Mayor Yang Wen-Ke, at the outbreak of the epidemic in Taiwan at the beginning of this year, Chair of the Westmont Village Board Yang Yu-Hsuan donated epidemic prevention materials to Hsinchu County under the instruction of the mayor of Westmont. During that time, when obtaining a mask was an overwhelming challenge, the donation was extremely helpful to epidemic prevention and we remember their help. Unimaginably, the United States took a serious hit in the epidemic, and we want to reciprocate Westmont Village. So, we have donated 10,000 masks, 1,000 mask cases and 500 protective clothing to express care and support from Hsinchu County, and hope that the cities will always be friends.
Chair of the Westmont Village Board Yang Yu-Hsuan expressed gratitude to the mayor of Hsinchu County and principal of Liou-Jia Senior High School for raising the epidemic prevention supplies and donating them to Westmont Village. She will forward the epidemic prevention supplies to the United States as quickly as possible and convey the goodwill of Hsinchu County to the mayor of Westmont Village.
Hsinchu County and Westmont Village have been sister cities since 2017, and have maintained close interactions over the years. In recent years, the Westmont High School and Hsinchu County Liou-Jia Senior High School have exchanged students and conducted other academic exchange activities. In addition to this joint effort to fight the epidemic, the two cities hope that in the future, they will have further exchanges and cooperation in green energy and smart medical technology.