BEIJING, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese mainland spokeswoman said Thursday that the mainland understood the concern of the people in Taiwan over the disqualification of a Taiwan taekwondo athlete at the Asian Games competition.

Fan Liqing, a spokeswoman for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, made the remarks in response to a question about the disqualification of Yang Shu-chun, for using extra sensors on the heel of her shoes in a Wednesday match.

"Yang Shu-chun is a very competitive taekwondo athlete. We feel regretful over what happened," said Fan.

Fan added that the mainland could not comment on the ruling of the Asian Taekwondo Union (ATU), but said she had knowledge that during the incident, ATU officials from the mainland did their best to minimize its damage to the Chinese Taipei taekwondo team.

Fan said ATU officials from the mainland insisted that the entire Chinese Taipei taekwondo team could not be punished for Yang's refusal to leave the match mat.

"At the same time, we told the ATU and other authorities, in a timely manner, that we expect them to conduct an investigation into the incident and issue a factual account," she said.

Also, Fan said the mainland would continue to provide assistance to athletes from Taiwan, as always.

"We sincerely hope the Chinese Taipei delegation will not be affected by this incident, put every effort into the games in the following days, and achieve a better performance," she said.