Upon receiving word of the earthquake that rocked the Solomon Islands resulting in the loss of life, President Chen Shui-bian immediately instructed the ROC (Taiwan) embassy in the Solomon Islands to express its concern to authorities there about the situation in that country. President Chen also said with Taiwan having experienced the devastating earthquake of September 21, 1999, it understands the difficult task of rescue and reconstruction. Based on the allied relationship between the two countries and the spirit of humanitarianism, Taiwan will provide assistance required by the Solomon Islands, he said.