The mayors of two of Taiwan’s largest cities have arrived in Kumamoto Japan. Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu and Tainan Mayor William Lai are bringing donations from the Taiwanese public in light of a powerful series of earthquakes that struck the area in mid-April. Those quakes left nearly 50 dead and thousands injured.
Taiwan’s new representative to Japan – Frank Hsieh – was at the airport to greet the two mayors when they arrived in Kumamoto on Friday. That was just one day after he flew to Tokyo take up his new post on Thursday.
Before her departure on Friday morning, Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu said that both Kaohsiung and Tainan had been witness to major disasters in recent years. She said the purpose of this trip to Kumamoto was to build on Taiwan and Japan’s mutual disaster-prevention efforts.
Chen said she was bringing the care and concern of the Taiwanese people to Kumamoto, and that she hoped to increase education, agriculture and tourism exchanges.