Taiwan ready to help in response to China's deadly earthquake: Tsai

Taipei, Dec. 19 (CNA) President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has expressed condolences to the families of those killed by a strong earthquake that hit the Chinese province of Gansu just before midnight on Monday and said her government "stands ready to offer assistance."

The president took to social media on Tuesday to offer her "sincere condolences" to "all those who have lost loved ones" after the magnitude-6.2 earthquake struck Gansu's mountainous Jishishan County at 11:59 p.m. on Monday.

"Taiwan stands ready to offer assistance in the disaster response effort," Tsai said, noting that she had instructed the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) and the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) to convey that message to Chinese authorities.

The MAC, Taiwan's top government agency handling cross-strait policy, later said in a press release that it had acted accordingly through "existing communication mechanisms" between the two sides, without elaborating.

Beijing has cut off official contact with Taipei since Tsai of the Democratic Progressive Party took office in 2016.

The SEF -- a quasi-governmental organization providing services to the Taiwanese who work, study and live in China -- is checking if any Taiwanese have been affected by the earthquake, the MAC added.

According to Chinese state media, at least 111 people in Gansu and neighboring Qinghai Province had been killed and 236 injured in the earthquake as of Tuesday morning.

International media also cited state media as reporting that water, electricity, communications and transportation infrastructure had been damaged by the earthquake, but said no further details were provided.

Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) also expressed condolences to the families of earthquake victims, Cabinet spokesman Lin Tze-luen (林子倫) said in a brief statement Tuesday.

Chen said relevant agencies from Taiwan would provide assistance whenever there was a need, according to Lin.

Meanwhile, Taiwan's main opposition Kuomintang (KMT) also weighed in on the matter in a separate statement Tuesday.

KMT Vice Chairman Andrew Hsia (夏立言), who is visiting Guangdong province in southern China, expressed the party's sympathies over the disaster to the Chinese authorities as well as its grief over the loss of lives.