Council continues proposal to form friendship‑city link with Taichung, Taiwan for further planning

Millbrae — The City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to continue consideration of a proposed Friendship City relationship with the Taichung (Taizhong) area of Taiwan, asking staff and the Sister Cities subcommittee to arrange direct meetings with Taichung representatives and return with a more detailed plan for cultural, educational and economic exchanges.

The Sister Cities Commission had recommended that the council extend a Friendship City invitation to the Taichung district office after a multi-year subcommittee review. Chair Kathleen Kimura and subcommittee members presented the item and said the relationship would begin with cultural and educational exchanges and could expand into economic ties and programmatic exchanges.

Council members asked for clearer implementation details, including which Millbrae organizations would host delegations, how student and cultural exchanges would be structured and whether the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office would be engaged. Commissioner John Chang and other subcommittee members said they have local contacts who could support student exchanges and cultural programming, and the council asked the subcommittee and staff to draft an actionable plan and meet with Taichung representatives before returning to council.

Council action

Mayor Andrew Fung moved to continue the item to permit further staff-level and subcommittee discussions; Vice Mayor Reuben Holiver seconded. The motion passed 5-0.

Context and next steps

Friendship city and sister city relationships are typically formalized by resolutions after both communities agree on objectives and exchanges. Council directed staff to set up meetings with Taichung contacts and return with a draft plan that outlines proposed exchanges, which local organizations would steward the relationship, translation and protocol support, and anticipated timelines.

Topics: international-relations (municipal-scale), cultural-exchange

Speakers: Kathleen Kimura (Sister Cities Commission Chair), John Chang (Commissioner), Mayor Andrew Fung (Mayor).