Mainland willing to aid Taiwan compatriots on COVID-19: spokesperson

BEIJING, May 17 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese mainland spokesperson on Monday expressed the mainland's willingness to provide assistance to Taiwan compatriots in quickly defeating the COVID-19 epidemic.

Zhu Fenglian, a spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, was responding to a media query on a recent appeal from Taiwan's New Party and other social groups to the Democratic Progressive Party authority regarding the receipt of COVID-19 vaccines from the mainland.

Expressing the mainland's concern over Taiwan's recent severe epidemic situation, Zhu said she hoped Taiwan compatriots would be able to contain the virus as soon as possible and return to normal life.

It is urgent to remove political obstacles on the island so that Taiwan compatriots can gain access to the vaccine and their health and well-being can be guaranteed, Zhu said.