China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) has responded to the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) call for aid, with Chinese enterprises promising to donate 10 million yuan (US$1.61 million) worth of artificial skin to treat people affected by the dust explosions and fire at the Formosa Fun Coast (八里海岸) water park in New Taipei City’s Bali District (八里), the KMT said yesterday.
China’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) also told the Strait Exchange Foundation that 20 million yuan of cadaver skin would be provided, the KMT said.
KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said on Wednesday that the nation is in desperate need of medical supplies and staff in the aftermath of the accident, which saw partygoers on Saturday last week enveloped by fireballs when cornstarch being sprayed on the crowd caught fire.
Photo: CNA
Chu asked KMT Mainland Affairs Department director Kao Koong-lian (高孔廉) to contact China to make the request, he said.
The office said that it has prepared medical supplies to assist with treatments, including cadaver skin donated by Chinese burn specialist Sheng Zhiyong (盛志勇).
TAO Minister Zhang Zhijun (張志軍) on Wednesday said in Tianjin that China is willing to share its experience in treating people affected by dust explosions and provide medical assistance.
Photo: CNA
The office yesterday said that help from China would be arriving after the proper procedures had been followed.
The Chinese National Health and Family Planning Commission has drawn up a plan to send medical personnel, including burns experts, to Taiwan.
In related news, Premier Mao Chi-kuo (毛治國) said the government would establish a foundation to provide long-term care for people caught up in the tragedy.
The foundation is to combine government and private-sector resources, but its exact form and funding are still being discussed, Mao told a news conference.
He said that the government welcomes suggestions on the issue from all sectors of society.
Mao said the first meeting of an inter-ministerial task force formed in response to the tragedy is set for today.
In addition to emergency medical assistance, the task force, led by Vice Premier Simon Chang (張善政), would also assist people with insurance and compensation claims and protect their rights, Mao said.
Mao vowed to discover who is responsible for the incident, adding that the government’s Consumer Protection Committee would assist people with filing lawsuits and compensation claims.
Separately, a local gay rights group announced that it would put off a planned march until Saturday next week out of sympathy for the people affected by the disaster.
The Taiwan Alliance to Promote Civil Partnership Rights issued a statement expressing sympathy for the people affected and said the march would be revised to raise money for treatment.
Any donations would go to the Sunshine Social Welfare Foundation, a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to providing services and rehabilitation for burns patients, the alliance’s Web site said.
The alliance originally planned to hold a march in Taipei tomorrow following last week’s ruling by the US Supreme Court that said US states are required to recognize same-sex marriages.
The marchers plan to go to the headquarters of both the KMT and the Democratic Progressive Party to demand the inclusion of a marriage equality bill in the next legislative session, which is to begin in September, the alliance said.
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