Phones nationwide on Tuesday afternoon received a presidential alert message about a Chinese satellite crossing over Taiwan’s southern airspace, causing alarm over an English mistranslation saying it was a missile.
The message sent out over the national SMS alert system said that a Chinese rocket carrying a satellite was launched at 3:04pm, and had already traveled over Taiwan’s southern airspace.
It advised the public to take caution and report any debris found to authorities.
Photo: Kayleigh Madjar, Taipei Times
However, the English translation included in the message read: “Missile flyover Taiwan airspace.”
The Ministry of National Defense (MND) later in a statement said that the rocket was carrying a satellite, and had launched at 3:03pm from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in China’s Sichuan Province.
The rocket had already exited the atmosphere by the time it reached Taiwan’s southwestern airspace, it said.
The ministry also apologized for failing to update the English to indicate it was a satellite, not a missile.
It was the first time a nationwide alert was sent out over a Chinese satellite launch.
No such message was sent when China sent missiles over Taiwan in reaction to a visit in 2022 by then-US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi.
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