On June 12, 2020, a truckload of 200,000 masks arrived at the Washington state’s warehouse, after a three-week long journey from Beijing, China. These masks, donated by the Tsinghua University Education Foundation (TUEF), was the third PPE donation the Washington State China Relations Fund accepted on behalf of the city or the state to help fight Covid-19. The other two were mask donations from the City of Hangzhou and the City of Shenzhen to the City of Seattle.
We send our sincere thanks to Tsinghua GIX for coordinating with TUEF. The successful arrival of the masks would not have been possible without Expeditors International’s support. They provided pro-bono service to help us clear the customs duty-free.
The donated masks will be delivered to Eastern Washington to support farm workers and to help slow the outbreak.
Schuyler Hoss, Director of International Affairs and Protocol at the Governor’s Office, expressed the state’s appreciation to the TUEF and looked forward to continued collaboration between Washington state and Tsinghua University. He also commended the Washington State China Relations Council and Tsinghua GIX for their facilitation of this donation, and for their efforts to foster stronger ties between Washington state and China.
