Taiwan issued a national emergency alert on Tuesday as China launched a satellite, days before the self-ruled island holds a crucial presidential election that has heightened security worries.
The alert came hours after election front-runner Lai Ching-te, Taiwan’s current vice president, accused Beijing of using “all means” to influence this weekend’s poll, which will set the course of cross-strait ties for the next four years.
Phones across Taiwan blared with a “presidential alert” at about 3:15 pm (0715 GMT), around the time Beijing announced the successful launch of its Einstein Probe satellite, which it says will gather astronomical data.
“China launched (a) satellite which flew over the southern airspace,” said the Taiwanese alert in Chinese. “Public, please beware of your safety.”
The English part of the message described it as an “air raid alert”,…
