Sun, Apr 12, 2020 page3

• Virus Outbreak: Group in US raises cash to buy masks from Taiwan

  • By Lu Yi-hsuan and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writer and CNA
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  The Taiwanese Chamber of Commerce of North America has started a fundraising campaign to buy masks made in Taiwan for frontline workers in the US, it said.

  It aims to raise nearly US$2 million to buy 10 million masks from Taiwan at NT$6 per mask, chamber honorary director Yang Hsin (楊信) said on Wednesday.

  Yang has donated US$500,000 to the campaign and chamber director Wang Chun-yu (汪俊宇) has donated US$50,000.

  

  Masks debossed with the words “Made in Taiwan” are displayed in Taipei on March 30.

  Photo: CNA

  Wang said that he hopes to spur donations from other Taiwanese businesspeople in the US.

  Organizations representing Taiwanese in the US and Canada have already been purchasing local supplies and donating them to frontline workers, he said.

  Now that Taiwan has increased its mask production capacity, the chamber said that it hopes to buy masks made in Taiwan to help those working in US hospitals, police and fire departments, long-term care facilities, and charity organizations, who are at the greatest risk of exposure to COVID-19, he said.

  It plans to create a working group focused on fundraising, he said, adding that the group’s handling of donations would be transparent.

  Taiwanese organizations in Thailand and Vietnam, among others, have donated money and medical supplies to frontline workers in those nations, he said.

  The shared spirit of Taiwanese businesspeople abroad is one of identifying with local people and helping them, he added.

  Overseas Community Affairs Council Minister Wu Hsin-hsing (吳新興) thanked the group and said that he “looked forward to seeing it” reach its fundraising goal.

  When it is ready to purchase masks, the council would communicate with the Central Epidemic Command Center and other relevant government bodies to help it do so, he said.

  In other developments Italian priest Father Giuseppe Didone, who received nearly NT$150 million (US$4.98 million) in donations from Taiwanese to help Italy fight COVID-19, on Friday said that if there is money left over it could be sent to Spain or other European countries struggling to contain the outbreak.

  In a statement issued by Camillian Saint Mary’s Hospital Luodong in Yilan County’s Luodong Township (羅東) where he works, Didone noted difficulties not only in Italy, but also in Spain and other parts of Europe.

  Didone on Wednesday last week appealed for donations to be made to his hospital’s fundraising center for the purchase of emergency medical supplies, including surgical masks and protective gowns for medical personnel in Italy.

  From April 1 to April 6, the center received cash donations of nearly NT$150 million as well as supplies including surgical masks, the hospital said.

  Meanwhile, responding to media reports that Finland dared not receive Taiwan’s donation of masks for fear of retaliation from Beijing, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) yesterday said the reports did not reflect the truth.

  The Finnish government has announced that it would collect medical supplies through commercial procurement, and Taiwan has not received yet a request for aid from the country, Ou said.

  Given that medical masks are still under regulation in Taiwan, the ministry would discuss a possible donation with the Finnish government if Helsinki presents its needs, she added.

  Additional reporting by Lin Chia-nan
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