Taiwan Donates Two Million Surgical Masks To Japan

Japan has become the latest beneficiary of Taiwan’s recent push to help nations around the world with donations of surgical face masks.

In news released through the Taiwanese government’s official news agency on Thursday, the chairman of the Taiwan – Japan Relations Association (TJRA), Chiou I-jen was seen giving Izumi Hiroyasu, head of the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association’s (JTEA) Taipei Office an oversized mask in a ceremony to mark the announcement.

The image was subsequently shared on the top page of the JTEA homepage. (screenshot above) with a thank you note for Taiwan’s “selflessness” also posted on the JTEA Facebook page.

It is understood the two million masks, to be delivered in the coming days will go to Japanese medical staff on the front lines against the pandemic.

Figures released in the report from Taipei show Japan to have registered almost 8,600 cases of the virus and 136 deaths as of late Thursday.

In recent years Taiwan and Japan have time and time again proven ready to help each other in times of need; the devastating March, 2011, earthquake and tsunami in Japan perhaps the most prominent example of almost instant aid offered by Taiwan to their neighbor to the north.

Following the Facebook comment on the JTEA page, an official press statement released by Japan’s representative in Taiwan said “(we) continue to strongly support Taiwan’s participation in international organizations, including the WHO,” – a nod to the government in Taipei’s ongoing efforts to push for recognition by the World Health Organisation.

Mark Buckton

Mark is a journalism vet of 20 years with most of those years spent in Tokyo, Japan, as a columnist for The Japan Times and numerous other publications. His work has appeared on CNN, in the BBC, NPR, and in several dozen other media forms and publications across five continents.