Annapolis Receives Donation of 40,000 Surgical Masks from Changsha, China
By Michael Castro
The national and international headlines convey a tense relationship between the US and China. What they don’t typically convey is that the local governments do not have that type of relationship, as evidenced by a recent gift from a Chinese community to an American one.
The municipal government of the city of Changsha in China has donated 40,000 medical grade masks to the city of Annapolis, in a show of solidarity between the two communities, according to Kevin Simmons, director of the Annapolis’s Office of Emergency Management. Changsha is the capital of central China’s Hunan province and its most populous city. It is home to 4.6 million people
Annapolis mayor Gavin Buckley was quoted as saying: “ International friendships like this bridge divides. I am grateful for the gift of the masks, but I’m even more grateful for what it says about the hopefulness of the human condition.”
An existing relationship between the Chinese city and Annapolis allowed this to happen. Because of bonds between individuals from Changsha and former Annapolis Assistant City Manager Bob Agee and other Annapolis residents, Changsha wanted to make the donation.
A rep of Changsha’s foreign affairs office, Yani Xiao stated that “because Changsha and Annapolis are friendship cities/twin cities, we should stand firmly with each other and support each other. Annapolis is not alone in this crisis, and we are a community with a shared future of mankind.”
One of the boxes even displays a logo of the American and Chinese flags together, which sounds like a thing of beauty considering the current geopolitical situation. There is a message from the Changsha Municipal People’s Government that reads: “Go, City of Annapolis! Best Wishes from Changsha! True unity inspires people to work as one to overcome adversity.”
“The masks have been inspected and confirmed to be medical grade,” Simmons said. Half of the supply will go to public safety employees. The other 20,000 will be available based on need.
“It’s a big competition for resources,” he said. “This could ease the burden with these masks.”
Anytime two adversarial parties become friends, even on a small scale, it’s good news.
The Capital Gazette contributed to this story.
