A government-backed television station in Taiwan has to apologise on Wednesday (April 20) after it mistakenly reported a Chinese attack in Taipei.
During a live news broadcast on Wednesday morning, Chinese Television System mistakenly showed news ticker alerts at the bottom of the screen about military ships and critical infrastructure near Taipei being hit by Chinese missiles, according to local media reports.
The alerts included words like “A war could break out”. The news elements also conveyed that a major train station in Taipei was set on fire by “Chinese agents” and Taiwan’s president declared a state of emergency.
The channel eventually had to apologise and appeal for calm.
“Citizens, please don’t be overly panicked. We hereby clarify the information and apologise,” an anchor said in the network’s news bulletin at 10 a.m.
She said the alerts were meant for a drill with the Fire Department in New Taipei City on Tuesday but were mistakenly displayed on Wednesday morning because of a technical error.
There were no overt signs of panic in Taipei after the accidental bulletins.
China openly states Taiwan to be its own territory and has never ruled out use of force to take control of the island nation.
Taiwan has raised its alert level since Russia invaded Ukraine, wary of China making a similar move, though the government has not reported any signs an attack is imminent.
The war in Ukraine, which Russia calls a “special military operation”, has prompted debate on the implications for Taiwan and ways to boost preparedness, such as reforms to the training of reservists.
(With inputs from agencies)
