Sister cities support Gansu in anti-coronavirus fight

After the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in China, many international sister cities and organizations expressed their solidarity to Gansu province. In his letter to Gansu Governor Tang Renjian, Oklahoma's Secretary of State Michael Rogers said: "our two regions have had an historic relationship for the past 35 years, and there exists a natural affinity between the people of Gansu and Oklahoma. Our collective prayer continues to be for a rapid containment and cure of the infection, as well as a successful operation to assist those affected by it."

Akita prefecture in Japan is the first sister city of Gansu, standing firmly with the province at each difficult moment over the past 40 years. Akita Governor Norihisa Satake wrote to his counterpart Tang, "Our thoughts go out to all the affected individuals and families in Gansu Province; we pray the disease will be controlled soon". Along with the letter came 2,800 medical facemasks and gloves.

Florida Province in Uruguay maintains regular exchange with Gansu, although the two regions are far apart from each other. Intendant Guillermo Lopez said in his message to Tang, "we support the anti-coronavirus work made by Gansu province and the Chinese government, we highly appreciate your government gives equal care and treatment to citizens and foreign residents in the province."

President Kravtsov Vladimir Vladimirovich of Grodno Oblast, Belarus, extended his deep feelings of compassion and solidarity to Gansu people, and encouraged the Chinese medical and administrative personnel to be strong and stay confident in this battle.

In addition, Christchurch City Mayor Lianne Dalziel in New Zealand, Alba County President Ion Dumitrel in Romania and Osh Governor W. Zhilkibaev in Kyrgyzstan sent similar letters to the Gansu provincial government, and a number of friendship associations from Georgia, Uzbekistan, Switzerland, Hungary, the US,and Canada gave good wishes to Gansu's people through the Gansu Provincial Foreign Affairs Office.

Zhu Yuming contributed to the story.