Hu Jintao promises more relief aid to typhoon-hit Taiwan
- Source: Global Times
- [00:48 August 20 2009]
- Comments
General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee Hu Jintao meets with a delegation of ethnic minorities from Taiwan, headed by actor-turned-politician Kao Chin Su-mei in Beijing, Aug. 19, 2009.(Xinhua/Li Xueren)
Taiwan's leader Ma Ying-jeou hugs a relative, dressed in funeral attire, of a victim of Typhoon Morakot during a visit to the village of Shiaolin in Kaohsiung county, southern Taiwan yesterday. (AFP photo)
General Secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee Hu Jintao expressed his condolences to the people of Taiwan yesterday for the victims of Typhoon Morakot and promised more aid.
He expressed deep sorrow on behalf of all on the mainland.
“We consider the difficulties our Taiwanese compatriots are facing as if they were our own. We will continue helping them in rescue and relief as well as provide support during reconstruction efforts,” said Hu.
He made the statement while meeting a delegation of ethnic minorities from Taiwan, headed by actor-turned-politician Kao Chin Su-mei.
The delegation arrived in Beijing yesterday for an 8-day visit to the mainland, at the invitation of the Taiwan Work Office.
The 14-member delegation would exchange ideas with the mainland on tourism, agriculture and local handicraft trade of areas inhabited by Taiwan's ethnic minorities.
The delegation would also seek more aid from the mainland for typhoon relief in Taiwan, as Typhoon Morakot has severely battered the southern part of the island, which is home to many of Taiwan’s ethnic minorities and tribes.
As of yesterday noon, 136 people were confirmed dead in Taiwan, 45 injured and 386 missing. The death toll did not include 523 people who were buried under mudslides in two villages.
The mainland has so far donated about 176 million yuan ($26 million) and 25 million yuan ($3.7 million) in relief aid to Taiwan, according to the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office.
The first batch of prefabricated houses, along with 10,000 sleeping bags, 10,000 blankets and 1,000 sterilization appliances, reached Taiwan on Tuesday.
The houses sent to Taiwan from the mainland complied with Taiwan’s design standards, as well as met the criteria of its local environmental authority and other related international standards, Fan Liqing, the spokeswoman of the Taiwan Affairs Office, told a news conference yesterday.
Her comment was in response to an unnamed Taiwanese media report that some typhoon survivors declined to accept the mobile houses out of concern that they might contain high levels of formaldehyde.
“The mainland sincerely wants to help the Taiwanese people, and has provided quality goods to relief efforts,” Fan said.
The island-based Strait Exchange Foundation confirmed the prefabricated houses had been delivered to disaster-affected areas, she said.
