A Chinese satellite launch triggered a nationwide emergency alert in Taiwan on Tuesday, days before the election, causing alarm and confusion as the English part of the message mistranslated the satellite as “missile”.
The bilingual air alert sounded over loudspeakers and was sent to every mobile phone in Taiwan shortly after 15:00 local time (07:00 GMT), warning people to “be aware”. The Chinese-language message said China launched the satellite at 15:04 and it flew over southern Taiwan. The English part of the message said, “A missile flew over Taiwan airspace” ([air raid alert] missile flyover Taiwan airspace).
At about the same time, Chinese media reported the successful launch of a scientific satellite known as the Einstein probe from the Xichang space centre in Sichuan province. Trajectories published by military observers on the Internet showed that the satellite flew at a high altitude southeast of Taiwan’s southernmost point. China had not previously announced the satellite launch and did not offer any details on its flight plan.
The defence ministry later blamed “negligence” for the erroneous reference to the missile. It also said the missile travelled at a high altitude over Taiwanese airspace.
Taiwan holds presidential and parliamentary elections on Saturday. Beijing claims Taiwan as its own territory and sees the election as a choice between peace and war across the Taiwan Strait. The Taiwanese government rejects China’s claims of sovereignty.
The Defence Ministry said it had monitored China’s movements, scrambling jets, dispatching ships and activating coastal missile systems. Taiwan has been boosting its defences with new weapons purchases from the US and has expanded national service for men to one year from four months.Â
