China satellite launch prompts Taiwan alert

Taiwan's government issued an island-wide alert yesterday, saying a Chinese satellite had flown over its southern airspace, which Taiwan's foreign minister described as part of a pattern of harassment days before a pivotal election.

The security alert was sent by the defence ministry to mobile phone users in Taiwan after 3:00 pm (0700 GMT), around the same time Chinese state media confirmed the launch of a science satellite.

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The "presidential alert" described the projectile as a "satellite" in Chinese, and a "missile" in English. The defence ministry later blamed "negligence" for the mistaken reference to a missile.

It also said the rocket had passed at high altitude over Taiwan airspace. Taiwan holds presidential and parliamentary elections on Saturday. Beijing claims Taiwan as its own territory and has cast elections as a choice between peace and war across the Taiwan Strait.

Taiwan's government rejects China's sovereignty assertions. Chinese state news agency Xinhua said China had launched "a new astronomical satellite" called the Einstein Probe from the southwestern province of Sichuan.

China had not previously announced the satellite launch and did not offer any details on its flight plan. China made two satellite launches on consecutive days in early December from a launch site in Inner Mongolia.