Fan Liqing, spokeswoman for the Taiwan Affairs Office under China's State Council (CNA file photo)Beijing, June 3 (CNA) China expressed sympathy Monday over a magnitude-6.3 earthquake that struck Taiwan the previous day, leaving three people dead, one missing and some 20 others injured.
Fan Liqing, spokeswoman for the Taiwan Affairs Office under China's State Council, said the Chinese people were concerned about the deaths and damage caused by the earthquake.
"We send regards to the Taiwanese people affected by the temblor and extend condolences to the families of those killed in the earthquake," said Fan.
"We hope the residents of the quake-affected areas will overcome the hardships caused by the natural disaster and resume their normal lives as soon as possible," Fan said.
China is willing to lend a helping hand if Taiwan needs any assistance in its relief or rehabilitation efforts, she added.
The earthquake, which hit at 1:43 p.m. Sunday, was centered 30 kilometers east of Nantou County Hall in central Taiwan at a depth of 10 km, according to the Seismology Center under Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau.
The temblor was felt in most parts of Taiwan, with Sun Moon Lake in Nantou, Alishan, Tainan and Dadu in Taichung recording an intensity of 5, the Seismology Center said.
In most parts of northern Taiwan, the quake was felt at an intensity of 3, it added.
According to China media reports, the earthquake was also felt in many parts of the southeastern Chinese province of Fujian, which lies opposite Taiwan.
More than 10,000 Chinese citizens were traveling in Taiwan Sunday, but none of them were affected by the earthquake, according to media reports.
The earthquake's death toll had risen to three as of Monday morning, according to the Central Emergency Operation Center.
The temblor also left one person missing, three seriously injured and 17 slightly injured, the center said.
(By Chou Hui-ying, Liu Chien-pang and Sofia Wu)
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