Taoyuan City signed a sister-city agreement with the U.S. city of Newark Tuesday morning. Due to the pandemic, the two mayors of Taoyuan and Newark signed the agreement together in an online ceremony. Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan 鄭文燦said both cities have an international airport and are important hubs for transport and freight. He said he looked forward to furthering city-to-city exchanges in tourism, commerce, and transport.

The mayors of Taoyuan and Newark hold up contract as they share a stage virtually, posing for a commemorative photo. The two sides are now sister cities. It’s another milestone for city-to-city diplomacy between Taiwan and the U.S.

Cheng Wen-tsan
Taoyuan mayor
Taoyuan and Newark are both cities that pursue diversity, openness, and better economic livelihoods for their people. I very much look forward to promoting exchanges between Taiwan and the United States after today’s meeting.

Ras Baraka
Newark mayor
We look forward to making sure that as Newark develops, it continues to grow its population, its people, its technology, its economy, its housing, its business. And I’m happy [that Newark is your] first sister city here in the East Coast of the United States.

Separated by time zones and the Pacific Ocean, the cities held a virtual signing ceremony on Tuesday. The city of Newark, New Jersey, is located close to New York City. It’s densely populated and, like Taoyuan, is home to an international airport and related industries like aviation, shipping, warehousing, and logistics. It’s now Taoyuan’s 15th sister city, and Taoyuan’s first on the U.S. East Coast.

Luis Quintana
Vice president of Newark City Council
We have a great leader, our leader, our leader in the city of Newark, Mayor Baraka. The members of the city council, we work together to make sure that we can partner in sister-city relationships for now, and in the future.

Cheng Wen-tsan
Taoyuan mayor
In the future, we can promote exchanges related to the airport. Newark is also a very suitable place on the East Coast for business investment and for establishing corporate branches. We hope to have extensive exchanges after the epidemic.

Taoyuan’s mayor presented a gift to his Newark counterpart: a gray figurine in the shape of a loop, its ends stamped with the emblems of Taoyuan and Newark. The work symbolizes two cities from opposite ends of the Pacific Ocean, connecting over their similarities. After the epidemic, the two sides hope to exchange in-person visits and to establish direct flights that support more bilateral exchanges.