On Tuesday afternoon, January 9, residents in Taiwan received a mobile phone alert issued by the nation's Ministry of National Defense (MND) warning that a missile was on its way.
The alert was issued at 3:17 p.m. in English and Chinese. Unfortunately, each version provided a different message.
The English version read "[Air raid Alert] Missile flyover Taiwan airspace,be aware." (Grammar unchanged) Unsurprisingly, the message caused widespread panic in Taiwan, particularly among Taiwan's non-Chinese speaking population.
The Chinese version, less alarmingly, explained that at 15:04 China had launched a satellite that had already crossed the Island's southern airspace. "If you see any unknown objects, contact the authorities", the Chinese message added.
Given China's aggressive military posturing toward Taiwan, and the fact that China has previously fired live missiles close to its southeastern neighbor, air raid drills are common in the island nation. Air raid drill alerts are sent to the mobile phones of all residents using a Taiwanese SIM card.
When the drills take place, residents are told to remain inside. If they are outside when they receive the message they have to make their way to the closest air raid shelter.
Unlike the routine air raid drill messages, the message sent on Tuesday did not mention the word "drill." The absence of the reassuring word was noticed by concerned members of Forumosa, a messaging forum popular among Taiwan's expat population.
Credit: Forumosa
Soon after the blunder, the MND issued a press release on their official website explaining how the mix-up had happened. The error related to the English version of the alert not being synchronized with the Chinese version, the message said.
The message also provided more information on the satellite launch. "The People's Republic of China launched a satellite from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan using the Long March series carrier rocket", said the MND.
"The national military utilized the Joint Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) system to thoroughly grasp relevant ballistic dynamics" and "activated the air threat warning system, issuing text messages to alert the public and enhance vigilance", the press release explained.
The MND wrote, "due to an oversight, the English-language terms in the text messages were not synchronized with the original system's wording, leading to imprecise expression." "The Ministry of National Defense apologizes to the public for any confusion; the launched object was a satellite, not a missile", it added.
Tuesday's faux pas was not the MND's first. On July 1, 2016, a fishing boat captain was tragically killed when an enlistee from Taiwan's Navy mistakenly fired a supersonic Hsiung Feng III (Brave Wind) anti-ship missile at his boat.
Credit: Ministry of National Defense
