On December 7th, Ambassador Kao of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York (TECO-NY) publicly presented a check to Speaker of the New York State Assembly, the Honorable Sheldon Silver, at the New York State Assembly building in Manhattan.

New York State was deeply affected by Hurricane Sandy with thousands still suffering from the devastating effects of the storm. Given Taiwan’s close relationship with those in the Tri-State area, the government of the Republic of China (Taiwan) has already donated $100,000 to both New York City and New Jersey’s State governments, and today, donated the same amount to New York State, in order to assist in their respective relief efforts.

After receiving the check, Assemblyman Silver expressed his deep gratitude to Taiwan for their donation. He said that Hurricane Sandy, which was the worst natural disaster visited on New York State in the last 100 years, had destroyed many citizens’ homes, leaving them homeless and in great need of help. As such, the goodwill of the Taiwanese government is very touching and is indicative of the solid relationship between Taiwan and New York State. He went on to say that the $100,000 would be added to the Empire State Relief Fund especially set up to help Sandy victims rebuild, and that the fund had to date already raised $150 million.

TECO-NY’s Ambassador Kao stated that given Taiwan and New York State’s close relations, the recent suffering of the victims of Hurricane Sandy deeply saddened the Taiwanese government and people. He also stated that although he knows that $100,000 is only a small amount given the hundreds of millions of dollars worth of damage brought about by Sandy, he hoped it acted as a token of Taiwan’s good will towards the residents of New York State. Furthermore, he said that a large number of Taiwanese NGO groups had come together to assist in the relief efforts and that he hoped that their good work and the ROC’s donation could help those affected rebuild as quickly as possible and restore a sense of security and normalcy to the victims’ lives. ‘)}