Taiwan voices concern for earthquake victims in China

Taipei, March 11 (CNA) Taiwan's semi-official Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) sent a message to its Chinese counterpart Friday, expressing concern for the victims of a 5.8-magnitude earthquake that hit Yunnan Province in southwestern China the previous day, the foundation's spokesman said. In the message, the SEF also conveyed condolences to the victims' families and expressed the hope that damaged homes could be rebuilt as soon as possible, SEF deputy secretary-general Ma Chao-chang said. No Taiwan nationals were injured in the earthquake, Ma said, after contacting the Beijing-based Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS). The SEF and ARATS are intermediary bodies designated to handle exchanges between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait in the absence of official contacts. The earthquake jolted Yingjiang County in Yunnan, close to the border with Myanmar, on Thursday, killing more than two dozen people, according to press reports. (By Feng Chao and Elizabeth Hsu) enditem/pc