New Jersey just got 200,000 medical masks from Taiwan, the latest overseas donation to one of the states hardest hit by the coronavirus.

Taiwan earlier donated 100,000 masks to the state.

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Rep. Chris Smith, a senior member of the House Foreign Relations Committee and a critic of China who has held several hearings on human rights in that country, helped arrange the donation.

“We are happy to accept this life-saving gift from partners who respect human rights and share our values and aspirations,” said Smith, R-4th Dist.

Smith earlier obtained 4,000 masks from Hong Kong democracy activists for CentraState Medical Center in Freehold, which is in his district. He led the fight in Congress to support protests against a Chinese government crackdown in the former British territory, and was the lead House sponsor of the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act signed into law last November.

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Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com.