Taiwan’s defence ministry sent an air raid alert to mobile phones across the island today after China launched a satellite over its airspace amid mounting tensions between Tapei and Beijing.
The presidential alert was sent out to residents’ mobile phones, warning them of a missile flyover and to ‘please beware of your safety’.
The air raid alert came just minutes after China said it had successfully launched an Einstein Probe satellite from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in southwestern Sichuan province.
State broadcaster CCTV said it was launched ‘using the Long March-2C carrier rocket… and the satellite entered its designated orbit’.
China had not previously announced the satellite launch and did not offer any details on its flight plan.
The alert on Tuesday comes just days before Taiwan has presidential and parliamentary elections on Saturday, which China has described as a choice between war and peace.
China said it had successfully launched an Einstein Probe satellite (pictured) from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in southwestern Sichuan province
A phone and watch that received an air raid alert is placed together for a photo in New Taipei City, Taiwan on Tuesday
State broadcaster CCTV said the satellite was launched ‘using the Long March-2C carrier rocket… and the satellite entered its designated orbit’
China views Taiwan, which is about 100 miles off China’s east coast, as a renegade province that must come under its control.
The Chinese satellite launched today will ‘observe mysterious transient phenomena in the universe comparable to the flickering of fireworks, with the aim of unveiling the violent and little-known aspects of the cosmos’, state-run news agency Xinhua reported.
The alert came as Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Joseph Wu was giving a press conference ahead of the Jan. 13 presidential and parliamentary elections.
‘This is something we have been coping with for a long time. For the Taiwan government, our military stands ready to deal with any kind of emergency,’ Wu said, addressing a question on the satellite and possible Chinese military provocations.
Wu told reporters a ‘satellite carried by a rocket’ had flown over the southern part of Taiwan, but said he had no further information.
It comes as Taiwan’s leading presidential candidate William Lai said today he hopes for a reopening of dialogue with China following almost eight years of Beijing’s near-complete refusal to communicate with leaders of the self-governing island it considers its own territory.
But Lai told reporters he would continue the current administration’s policy of maintaining democratic Taiwan’s de-facto independence in the face of Chinese Communist Party threats to annex it by political, military or economic means.
China demands that Taiwan’s leadership concede its claim of ownership over the island before reopening contacts.
China said it had successfully launched an Einstein Probe satellite (pictured) from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in southwestern Sichuan province
A person attending a Foreign Ministry’s news conference holds a phone showing air raid alert about a Chinese satellite that had flown over south Taiwan airspace in Taipei, Taiwan on Tuesday
Beijing views Taiwan as an autonomous Chinese province and has long sought reunification. Taiwan sees itself as an independent state. Pictured: A map of Taiwan
Xi Jinping (pictured on Monday) views Taiwain as an autonomous Chinese province
‘While aspiring for peace, we harbor no illusions,’ Lai said at a news conference ahead of Saturday’s polls for the presidency and legislature. ‘We will build up Taiwan’s defense deterrence, strengthen Taiwan’s capabilities in economic security, enhance partnerships with democracies around the world and maintain stable and principled leadership on cross (Taiwan) Strait relations.’
‘Our door will always be open to engagement with Beijing under the principles of equality and dignity. We are ready and willing to engage to show more for the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. Peace is priceless and war has no winners,’ Lai said.
Lai, currently Taiwan’s vice president, is broadly seen as the front-runner in the election to succeed President Tsai Ing-wen, who is barred by law from running for a third term.
Most polls show him well ahead of the main opposition Nationalist Party, or KMT, candidate Hou You-yi, who favors eventual unification with China under its own terms, and the alternative Taiwan People’s Party’s Ko Wen-je, who has also pressed for renewed dialogue with China and the avoidance of confrontation with Beijing.
Looming over the election has been China’s steadily increasing pressure on Taiwan through barring it from major international gatherings, wooing away its diplomatic allies to just a handful, and offering financial inducements to politicians – from the grassroots to top opposition figures who could influence the vote or promote policies increasing Chinese access to the the island’s economy.
The People’s Liberation Army sends ships and warplanes on daily missions around Taiwan and the island’s Defense Ministry has reported a growing number of balloons crossing over from China.
The balloon incidents recall the incursion last year of a Chinese balloon that flew over Canada and the U.S. and was eventually shot down by the U.S. Air Force.
China claimed the aircraft was a weather balloon that had been blown off-course, but the U.S. said it was carrying sophisticated intelligence-gathering technology.
Over the past 24 hours, the ministry reported four Chinese balloons had passed over the island, while 10 warplanes and four warships had entered airspace and waters near the island, part of a campaign to wear down morale and military resilience.
The Defense Ministry said it had monitored China’s movements, scrambling jets, dispatching ships and activating coastal missile systems.
Taiwan has been boosting its defenses with new weapons purchases from the U.S. and has expanded national service for men to one year from four months.
Those have become contentious issues in the coming election, with Lai and the DPP accusing the KMT of blocking new defence spending, possibly as part of an arrangement with Beijing to gradually hand over control of the island.