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.

WSCRC has recently been featured in several news articles and podcasts.

WSCRC’s success in importing PPEs from China was featured in an article in the Christian Science Monitor on May 18. This article also explained the “Food with Love” program which was started by the Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Washington State. WSCRC began to cooperate with this program in early May and has helped to increase the funds raised to support this effort.

WSCRC’s Executive Director, Nor Coquillard, was recently interviewed for the program “In China with Michelle Zou” to talk about “Maintaining Business Relations with China During Difficult Times”. Mr. Coquillard explained the Council’s efforts to maintain good relationships with his counterparts in China at the sub-national level. He also shared his advice for companies that work in China or are interested in the China market. The interview is available here. 

Seattle (May 21, 2020) – The Washington State China Relations Fund (WSCRF), this week received a donation of 40,000 surgical masks from the City of Shenzhen on behalf of the City of Seattle. This follows the WSCRF’s successful facilitation of a donation of 10,000 N95 masks from the City of Hangzhou to the City of Seattle last month. WSCRF’s involvement in this transaction helped to expedite the shipment and ensure that the masks could meet immediate needs.

The masks were delivered this week to the City of Seattle’s warehouse. They will be dispatched to the City’s first responders and social service providers to ensure their safety while providing urgent care.

These results come from multi-year outreach efforts by the Washington State China Relations Council (WSCRC) and the City of Seattle. In May 2016, the WSCRC helped to organize and lead a weeklong business mission to China that resulted in nine major agreements and investments between the City of Seattle and the City of Shenzhen. The WSCRC signed an agreement with the Shenzhen Foundation for International Exchange and Cooperation to enhance strategic relationships and promote non-governmental cooperation between Shenzhen and Seattle. Over the years, the City and WSCRC have also hosted a number of delegations from Shenzhen. Shenzhen is also the home to BGI, one of the world’s largest genome sequencing companies. BGI has been working in partnership with Seattle institutions for years on global health initiatives, including on the current COVID-19 response, and maintains a team in Seattle.

Mayor Durkan expressed the City’s appreciation to the City of Shenzhen and looked forward to opportunities to build stronger ties between the two cities. The Mayor also commended the Washington State China Relations Council for its efforts to foster this important relationship over the years.

The WSCRF has accepted a donation of 200,000 surgical masks from Tsinghua University Education Foundation and is expecting that shipment to arrive in Seattle in the next week or two. These masks will be transferred to the State of Washington.

To learn more about WSCRC and WSCRF, please visit www.wscrc.org and www.wscrf.org.

By J. Norwell Coquillard

In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, members of Washington state’s Chinese community have rallied to raise funds and collect medical supplies for local hospitals throughout the Puget Sound region. While leaders at the federal level continually blame China for the virus, this community is stepping up in defiance of these racist attacks, committing resources, time and energy to support those who are most in need of help.

In February many local Chinese groups collected supplies and arranged to transport them to China to help stop the outbreak there. Julia and William Sun of Bellevue, owners of a fish processing business which buys Alaskan products and ships them to China for cleaning and packaging, have seen their business badly hurt by the U.S.-China trade war. Despite these difficulties the couple quickly used their business sourcing skills to buy personal protective equipment (PPEs) and arrange to have them transported to hospitals in China to help fight COVID-19. When the crisis came to the U.S. they began to donate their remaining inventory to Evergreen Health in Kirkland, the initial epicenter of the outbreak in the U.S.

Many other members of Washington’s Chinese community have taken similar actions. As COVID-19 began to spread rapidly throughout Western Washington, the United Chinese  Americans of Washington State  (UCAWA) quickly organized to raise funds and originate goods to donate to local hospitals. Under the motto “United We Stand”, this association has acted as the lead organization for over 65 local Chinese organizations. Hong Qi Wagner of Bellevue, who is directing the organization’s efforts, led an initial fund drive which resulted in a $140,000 donation to the Evergreen Hospital Foundation to help with the purchase of medical supplies. In addition to raising money, this organization has collected masks, gowns and goggles, which it has donated to over 45 hospitals, clinics and health centers in the Greater Seattle region.

The Chinese Chamber of Commerce of Washington (CCCWA), an association of Chinese companies that have operations in the state, initially pitched in to raise over $80,000 to purchase medical supplies for donation to local institutions.  Starting on March 30, the CCCWA launched a program called “Food with Love” with 15 local restaurants that has provided over 11,000 meals delivered to frontline healthcare workers and first responders at over 20 hospitals, police stations and mobile testing sites.  The program, which is scheduled to run until the end of June, plans to eventually raise $400,000 to support the delivery of over 17,500 meals.

The Guardians of Angeles, a foundation with Chinese American leadership, has recently imported 1.2 million masks to donate to medical facilities all around the country. The Foundation recently gifted 50,000 masks to the UW Medical Center.

Our organization, the Washington State China Relations Council, a non-profit organization founded in 1979 to promote economic, cultural and educations ties between the state and China, is working with its members and the Chinese community to coordinate efforts. We have been in frequent contact with the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai to identify reliable medical equipment suppliers in China and outline export procedures to move these products to Washington.  Our charitable arm, the Washington State China Relations Fund, has acted as the importer for a donation of masks from the City of Hangzhou and the City of Shenzhen in China to the City of Seattle and is in discussions with other organizations to expedite the imports of PPEs into the region.

Many of the Council’s members have been active in the fight against the coronavirus. Member companies such as Microsoft, Boeing, Starbucks and Himalayan Capital have contributed to fundraising efforts in Seattle to support the local community. Microsoft has and continues to find ways to source masks from overseas and to bring them in the area.

After acting quickly to source and ship products to China to fight COVID-19 just two months ago, the Chinese community in Washington rapidly shifted its focus to defeat the virus here at home. Recognizing the seriousness of the situation, often after hearing from friends and loved ones, the Chinese community has demonstrated its support and solidarity with the wider community in the effort to defeat Covid-19.

J. Norwell Coquillard is executive director of the Washington State China Relations Council.