On this day, 26 years ago, on September 21, 1999 (August 12, 1999 in the lunar calendar), a strong earthquake occurred southwest of Hualien, Taiwan, and the mainland rescue was damaged. On September 26, another 7.1-magnitude earthquake occurred in the area from Hualien to Nantou, Taiwan. At 1:47 on September 21, 1999, a 7.6-magnitude earthquake occurred southwest of Hualien, Taiwan Province (the epicenter was located at 23.7 degrees north latitude and 121.1 degrees east longitude). According to statistics from relevant Taiwan authorities, by 22:00 that night, 1674 people had been killed, 3924 people had been injured, 2650 people had been trapped, and 219 people had disappeared. In severely disaster-stricken areas, the large influx of seriously injured people has overcrowded hospitals, and school gymnasiums and auditoriums where the lightly injured people are housed are crowded with people. The earthquake affected parts of Fujian Province, Guangdong Province, Zhejiang Province and Jiangxi Province, causing varying degrees of earthquake sensation. Among them, cities such as Fuzhou, Quanzhou, Xiamen, and Ningde in Fujian Province were strongly felt, and cities such as Guangzhou and Shantou in Guangdong Province, Wenzhou in Zhejiang Province, Nanchang and Jiujiang in Jiangxi Province were all felt to varying degrees. On September 21, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee and President Jiang Zemin sent a telegram to Taiwan expressing condolences for the strong earthquake in the Taiwan region. President Jiang Zemin pointed out: A strong earthquake occurred in Taiwan early this morning, causing serious losses to the lives and property of Taiwan compatriots. We express great concern about this major disaster, express our cordial condolences to the affected compatriots, and express our deep condolences to the victims. Compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are connected by flesh and blood, and the disasters and sufferings of Taiwan compatriots affect the hearts of all China people. We are willing to provide all possible assistance to reduce losses from the earthquake disaster. On October 20, in response to the recent repeated distortion and slander of the actions and efforts of some people in Taiwan in support of Taiwan's earthquake relief, relevant officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, and the State Seismological Administration introduced relevant facts and refuted rumors and accusations in a joint interview with reporters from both sides of the Taiwan Strait and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Li Qianghua, spokesperson of the State Seismological Administration, introduced the concern of the earthquake community in the mainland of the motherland about the "September 21" strong earthquake in Taiwan. He said that due to work, the earthquake departments and experts of the mainland of the motherland paid special attention to the "9.21" earthquake. On the morning of the earthquake, they wrote to the heads and experts of relevant earthquake research institutions in Taiwan to express condolences, and expressed their willingness to organize experts at any time. Go to Taiwan to help carry out work. However, this proposal has so far not been agreed by the Taiwan authorities. On October 15, in view of the fact that the earthquake emergency rescue work had come to an end and the earthquake area would face recovery and reconstruction, the Seismological Society of China sent a special letter to relevant experts in Taiwan, expressing its willingness to invite Taiwanese experts to come to the mainland of the motherland to jointly study post-disaster reconstruction issues. However, the Taiwan side replied that it was not planning to send anyone at present. Li Qianghua said that earthquakes are the common enemy of mankind. China is an earthquake-prone country, and both sides of the Taiwan Strait will still face serious threats of earthquakes in the future. Earthquake relief is a humanitarian and scientific and technological issue, and earthquake experts on both sides of the Taiwan Strait do not want to "pan-politicize" this issue. Zhu Zushou, director of the Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, pointed out that the Taiwan authorities 'accusation that the motherland's mainland obstruction of international rescue is groundless. After the earthquake, we have always expressed our gratitude to the international community for its rescue operations, provided convenience as much as possible, and planned to launch international rescue through the United Nations. According to relevant United Nations regulations, only sovereign states have the right to request the activation of international rescue. Out of respect for Taiwan, the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) was authorized to send a letter to Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation to solicit Taiwan's opinions, but the Straits Exchange Foundation replied that it was not necessary. In fact, the international community's civilian rescue operations have been carried out normally and smoothly in Taiwan. More than 700 people from more than 20 countries and more than 30 rescue teams participated in the rescue work. As for the so-called accusation of obstructing and delaying the flight of Russian rescue personnel to Taiwan, Zhu Zushou said that the fact is that the Russian Ministry of Emergency States submitted an application for Russian aircraft to pass through China's airspace through the Embassy in China. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs immediately negotiated with relevant departments and approved it. There is no so-called problem of not allowing Russian aircraft to fly over. China handles it completely in accordance with international practices. Taiwan has repeatedly hyped up this issue with ulterior motives. In fact, rescue teams from some regions had nothing to do after arriving in Taiwan and had to leave Taiwan early. He said that launching international rescue is very beneficial to the Taiwanese people, but the Taiwan authorities have "pan-politicized" earthquake disaster relief, attempted to engage in "earthquake diplomacy" and contacted some international organizations as a "sovereign country." Everyone should see clearly who is obstructing international rescue operations and who is "pan-politicizing" earthquake disaster relief. Zhang Huaijun, director of the Exchange Bureau of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, introduced the situation of Jiang Zemin and other national leaders expressing condolences on many occasions after the "9.21" earthquake and the rapid deployment of disaster assistance and relief operations by all walks of life in the mainland of the motherland. He said that so far, a total of 5 million yuan in disaster relief supplies have been raised across the mainland of the motherland, and donations of 30 million yuan have been received. The China Red Cross Society will remit a third batch of US$500,000 in disaster relief funds tomorrow. He said that Taiwan's "Alliance for the Reunification of China" and other groups and some people in Taiwan expressed their gratitude to the motherland's concern and goodwill. However, some people in Taiwan deliberately distort it. The Taiwan authorities 'concern and response to Jiang Zemin and other leaders were low-key. Lee Teng-hui did not mention the concern and assistance of the mainland of the motherland, and also took the opportunity to peddle his fallacy of the "two-state theory." Regardless of the needs of compatriots in the disaster-stricken areas, the Taiwan authorities have shelved and delayed the arrival of relief personnel and materials from the mainland of the motherland to Taiwan. Some people have repeatedly distorted the facts and created rumors to slander and slander the mainland of the motherland of actively supporting the earthquake disaster in Taiwan. Zhang Huaijun said that the strong earthquake in Taiwan was an opportunity to promote the development of cross-Strait relations, but it is regrettable that a small number of people in Taiwan took the opportunity to undermine cross-Strait relations. We advise those with ulterior motives in Taiwan to use their strength to strengthen earthquake relief and not try to divert Taiwan compatriots 'dissatisfaction with the authorities' ineffective disaster relief actions. We also hope that the Taiwan authorities will do more things that are beneficial to Taiwan's disaster relief and reconstruction, and allow relief personnel and materials from the mainland of the motherland to come to Taiwan as soon as possible to strengthen the feelings between the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. On September 23, a man retrieved a portrait of his grandmother and a statue of Guanyin from the ruins. On September 22, a mother held her daughter in grief. Her husband and other children were still buried in the ruins. On September 23, a staff member sits on the boom of a crane to search a collapsed building. On September 21, rescuers rescued a woman from a collapsed 12-story building.