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Director Oudkirk first asked about the earthquake in Turkey, where the United States and Taiwan have provided assistance. Mayor Lu responded that the recent major earthquakes in Turkey and Syria have made the people of Taiwan sympathetic to the damage caused by the earthquake. Therefore, she and all citizens actively donated money, and the city government also sent a rescue team for disaster relief.
Mayor Lu said the Taichung search and rescue dog team is stationed in Wufeng, near the 921 Earthquake Museum of Taiwan. It has been borrowing space from the central government for many years and recently received a notice from the central government to take back the station. Mayor Lu was concerned that the search and rescue dogs would have nowhere to go. Last week, she attended the meeting of the Executive Yuan and pleaded for the search and rescue dogs at the meeting. Also, she urged the search and rescue dog team of the special rescue squad of the city fire department to continue to use the original station. To date, she has received a positive response from the central government.
The two sides also exchanged views on the issue of maintaining information security. Mayor Lu said that her master's degree was related to national security. Modern national security is not only limited to the risk of violence but also includes issues such as capital security, which is related to urban operation practices, so she attaches great importance to it. Like Guo-Rong Huang, the deputy mayor is the head of the capital security of the city government. He coordinates the capital security work of all bureaus and offices at the deputy mayor level to maintain urban security. After her re-election, the newly established Information Management Center expanded the original information center. She hopes that with the development of the digital city, information security will be better.
According to Mayor Lu, Taichung is a cultural city that holds various cultural and artistic activities throughout the year. She thanked Director Oudkirk for supporting cultural and artistic exchanges between Taichung and the United States in the past. She also agrees with Director Oudkirk's idea of promoting art diplomacy. Through the power of art, people-to-people friendship can be strengthened.
Talking about the World Baseball Classic, which is in full swing. Mayor Lu also said that the World Baseball Softball Confederation has recognized Taichung as the "Baseball Capital of the World," which often hosts various top international baseball games. She knows that Director Oudkirk is also a baseball fan. After taking office, she hosted the AIT Softball Championship of sports activities and employee family days. Director Oudkirk also watched the Chinese Professional Baseball League last July. It was a pity she could not attend this World Baseball Classic due to her schedule. Therefore, Mayor Lu welcomes Director Oudkirk to come to Taichung in the future to watch popular events such as the Chinese Professional Baseball League or Asian Baseball Championship to feel the enthusiasm of Taichung fans.
In the end, Mayor Lu presented a special gift to Team Chinese Taipei in the classic game with Director Oudkirk's name printed on it. Mayor Lu specially chose jersey number 15 to commemorate the fact that Director Oudkirk is the 15th Director of AIT.
The visit yesterday included Mayor Lu, Director Oudkirk of the American Institute in Taiwan, Cultural Affairs officer Luke Martin, Cultural Affairs manager Wanda Yang, deputy mayor Guo-Rong Huang, secretary general Jia-Zhen Xie, Information Bureau director Zhao-Xin Zheng, and Cultural Affairs Bureau director Jia-Jun Chen. The atmosphere was warm and harmonious.