Taiwan’s defense ministry issued an alert Tuesday saying China has launched a satellite and urging caution days before the island’s elections.
Taiwan holds presidential and parliamentary elections Saturday that China has described as a choice between war and peace.
In English, the presidential alert sent to residents’ mobile phones cautioned there was a missile flyover.
A Long March-2C rocket, carrying the Einstein Probe satellite, lifts off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Xichang, in southwestern China’s Sichuan province on Jan. 9, 2024. AFP via Getty Images
Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu checks his hand phone as his press briefing was interrupted by an emergency alert about a satellite launch, in Taipei, Taiwan, on Jan. 9, 2024. APThe alerts went off in the middle of an international news conference by Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu.
He clarified it was a satellite launch, told journalists not to worry, and proceeded with the news conference.
China views Taiwan, which is about 100 miles off China’s east coast, as a renegade province that must come under its control.
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