The launch of a Chinese satellite this Tuesday caused the activation of the emergency telephone alert system in Taiwan. Chinese state media announced the launch of the Einstein Probe satellite using the Long March-2C rocket at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center. "The satellite entered the designated orbit," announced state television CCTV, which defined the operation as a "complete success" in statements reported by AFP.
During the launch, phones in Taiwan received a presidential emergency alert warning that China launched a satellite that flew over the country's southern airspace. "Population, please be careful with your safety," announced the message broadcast in Chinese. On the other hand, the part of the message broadcast in English described the event as "an air attack alert" and warned of "a missile in flight over Taiwan airspace."
The alert coincided with a press conference by Foreign Minister Joseph Wu, in which he informed the foreign press about the preparations for the coming Saturday´s elections in Taiwan, which maintains its autonomous government from China despite the non-recognition of the communist regime, which considers the island as its own territory. The foreign minister assured reporters that it was a satellite and explained that the alert was issued due to the possible fall of "debris" into Taiwanese territory.
When a rocket flies over our sky, some of its tubes or debris fall into this region. This is the reason why our national alert center issues these types of warnings.
The vice president and favorite candidate in Saturday's elections, Lai Ching-te, accused Beijing on Tuesday of using "all means" to interfere in the vote. China, for its part, indicated through the state news agency Xinhua that the launched satellite will be used to carry out astronomical observations.
