Taiwan mistranslated an alert; He said China launched missile instead of satellite

The Ministry of Defense of Taiwan mistranslated an alert into English on Tuesday, saying that China had launched a missile instead of a satellite and urging caution days before the island’s elections.

Taiwan holds presidential and parliamentary elections on Saturday that China has described as a choice between war and peace.

The bilingual alert sent to residents’ mobile phones warned in English of a missile overflight. The Ministry of Defense later issued a statement apologizing to the public for the faulty English translation and clarifying that China had launched a rocket carrying a satellite, not a missile.

The ministry claimed that the Chinese rocket flew over southern Taiwan at high altitude.

Chinese state media said the country launched a satellite called Einstein with a Long March 2C rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China’s Sichuan province. Television broadcaster CCTV declared that the satellite had entered orbit and that the launch had been a success.

The alerts came in the middle of an international press conference by Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu. The official clarified that it was a satellite launch, told journalists not to worry and continued with the press conference.

“We have to be responsible and moderate to avoid a conflict between Taiwan and China”he declared.

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, who was in the southern city of Kaohsiung, urged the public not to worry, according to local press.

Beijing views Taiwan, located about 160 kilometers (100 miles) off China’s eastern coast, as a renegade province that must come under its control.

China has intensified its military harassment of the island inhabited by 23 million people in recent months, sending military ships and planes near it almost daily. Beijing has also been flying balloons — feared to be used for surveillance — near the island despite complaints from Taiwan.