The launch of a Chinese satellite has led to an air raid alert in Taiwan just before an election.

Ahead of a crucial presidential election, Taiwan issued a widespread air raid alert in response to a Chinese satellite passing over its southern airspace.

In the lead-up to the crucial presidential and legislative elections on Saturday, mobile phone users throughout Taiwan received a message advising them to “exercise caution for their safety.”

This “presidential alert” underscored the heightened tensions preceding the elections, with concerns about China’s potential interference in the process. China has consistently asserted its claim over Taiwan as part of its territory, intensifying the struggle between China and the United States for dominance in the Asian region. Analysts believe that the election outcomes will significantly influence the course of relations between Beijing and Washington.

Taiwan’s defense ministry reported that the satellite was launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in China’s Sichuan province at 15:03 local time. Coincidentally, China’s CCTV also announced the successful launch of a satellite named “Einstein Probe” at approximately the same time as the alert was issued.

The warning was distributed to mobile phones all over Taiwan.

Taiwan’s Foreign Minister, Joseph Wu, characterized the launch of a satellite over Taiwanese airspace so close to the election as a “greyzone” activity, as reported by Reuters news agency. He explained that when a rocket openly traverses their airspace, some of its components or debris may fall within the region, which prompted the issuance of the national alert.

Mr. Wu mentioned that similar incidents have occurred in the past, and Taiwan’s defense ministry was actively monitoring the satellite’s trajectory to respond appropriately. Notably, the satellite was at a high altitude when it crossed Taiwan’s airspace.

According to Taiwanese media, this marks the first time that the government has issued such a widespread alert of this nature.

Taiwan’s Foreign Minister, Joseph Wu, received the alert on his mobile phone while he was in the middle of a news conference.

Eric Chu, the chairman of Taiwan’s main opposition party, Kuomintang (KMT), criticized the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) government for what he perceived as fear-mongering tactics, especially in the use of the term “missile” in the English version of the alert. The alert message read: “[Air raid alert] Missile flyover Taiwan airspace, be aware.” Chu argued that this was the first time he had heard of a satellite launch triggering such an alert and suggested that the Ministry of National Defense was attempting to mislead the public.

Subsequently, Taiwan’s defense ministry issued an apology for the inaccurate reference to a missile in the mobile phone alert.

The Einstein Probe satellite is a collaborative effort between the European Space Agency, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics. Its mission is to observe enigmatic transient phenomena in the universe, akin to the flickering of fireworks, with the goal of unveiling the violent and lesser-known aspects of the cosmos, as reported by China’s Xinhua news agency.

In December, Taiwanese media had previously reported on Chinese carrier rockets passing over the island. A Focus Taiwan report from December 10 noted that a carrier rocket, also launched from China’s Xichang Satellite Launch Centre, had passed over southwestern Taiwan in outer space.