Mainland sends letter of sympathy to Taiwan after typhoon Fanapi hits island

The mainland-based Association for Relations across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) sent a letter to its Taiwan counterpart Tuesday expressing the mainland's sympathy with the island for the losses the latter suffered after typhoon Fanapi slammed the island.

"We hope people affected by the typhoon can resume their normal lives as soon as possible," the letter said.

Typhoon Fanapi crashed into the island Sunday morning, bringing heavy rains to southern parts of Taiwan and causing injuries to 111 people. Infrastructure was also damaged but no deaths were reported.

According to Taiwan's agriculture department, the island's agriculture sector suffered about 2.1 billion New Taiwan dollars (about 66.57 million U.S. dollars) in losses.

Source: Xinhua