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Mainland aid to flood-hit Taiwan reaches $44m

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-08-20 17:46

BEIJING: Relief funds and materials donated by the Chinese mainland to typhoon Morakot-stricken Taiwan totaled 300 million yuan (US$44 million) by Wednesday night, said Yang Yi, a spokesman of the State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office, Thursday.

The donation included 270 million yuan in money and 30 million yuan worth of relief materials, Yang said.

According to Taiwan's United Daily News, Taiwan's "mainland affairs council", which is in charge of cross-strait affairs, said Wednesday the  mainland had conducted formaldehyde content tests on prefabricated houses destined for Taiwan and they were found to be safe.

Taiwan had conducted further tests and found none of the houses or their fittings had excessive formaldehyde levels, the report said.

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The council said the deep concern the mainland had expressed to Taiwan in the wake of the disaster, and the provision of relief funds and  materials in a very short time, was greatly appreciated.

Ma Xiaoguang, vice secretary general of the mainland's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS), said Wednesday that the formaldehyde content of the mobile houses was 0.02 parts per million (ppm), lower than Taiwan's standard of 0.12 ppm, another Taiwan newspaper United Evening News reported Wednesday.

As of 1:30 pm Wednesday, typhoon Morakot had left at least 136 people dead and 386 missing in Taiwan.