Mayor Sarno and Representative Puppolo have maintained a close friendship and partnership with the TECO-Boston team both on the state level with local trade and culture exchange programs with the nation of Taiwan, with Taiwan being the 11th largest trading partner of Massachusetts, and locally with the city of Springfield raising the Taiwan flag at City Hall during the month of October.
In 2021, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Director-General Jonathan Sun and Consular Officer Johanna Wang reaffirmed their friendship and partnership with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and city of Springfield by donating 400,000 medical masks to the state and 10,500 masks to Springfield.
Mayor Sarno states, “I want to thank Representative Puppolo for always being our direct point of contact with our friends from Taiwan. The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Boston has been great to work with and I am always happy to welcome Director-General Jonathan Sun and Consular Officer Johanna Wang to Springfield. During the height of the pandemic, TECO-Boston came through for our Springfield by donating over 10,500 masks. In addition, every year in October we celebrate Taiwan Day in the city of Springfield with a special flag raising ceremony to honor and acknowledge our friends from Taiwan and our local Taiwanese-Americans community.”
“I also want to thank and acknowledge Johanna Wang for her efforts in continuing our local partnership and working alongside with my dedicated staff, City Hall Facility Manager Al Rodriguez and Communications Director Bill Baker, to coordinate our annual Taiwan flag raising ceremony here at City Hall,” Mayor Sarno added.
