Taiwan: Authorities has announced that a Chinese satellite had flown over southern Taiwan airspace. An “air raid alert” flashed on every mobile phones in the island warning the user to “be aware for your safety.” Taiwan defence ministry said that the satellite was launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in Sichuan province in China at 15:03 local time (12:03 pm IST).
A Chinese broadcaster confirmed the launch of a satellite named Einstein Probe from the centre. It added that the launch mission was a “complete success.” Sources reported that Taiwan foreign minister, Mr. Joseph Wu said that launching a satellite over Taiwan’s air space, so close to the election is a “grey zone” activity.
The defence ministry is tracking the trajectory of the satellite. It will enable them to appropriately alert and respond to the situation. Media in Taiwan reported that the Government had never flashed such an island – wide alert of this kind before this incident.
Mr. Eric Chu, the chairman of main opposition party in Taiwan, Kuomintang (KMT), accused the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government of fear-mongering. The opposition uses the appearance of the word “missile” in the English version of the alert in particular to prove the acquisition. The message sent among the people was “[Air raid alert] Missile flyover Taiwan airspace, be aware.”
According to the analysts, such an incident happening days before the election in Taiwan will shape the trajectory of ties between Beijing and Washington.
According to the European Space Agency,the Einstein Probe is a partnership between the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics. Sources said that the satellite will observe mysterious transient phenomena in the universe. The phenomena is comparable to the flickering of fireworks. The mission aims tounveil the violent and little-known aspects of the cosmos.
As per the reports, it is not the first time such space objects have moved across Taiwan’s air space. Taiwanese media had also reported on Chinese carrier rockets passing over the island last December. According to a previous report, a carrier rocket launched from Xichang had passed over southwestern Taiwan in outer space.
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