The incident has struck a chord at a time when fears in Taiwan that China will one day carry out its threats to annex the self-governing democratic island are heightened.
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“CTS sincerely apologizes for this serious error which caused panic among the public and caused problems for the units involved.” A Taiwanese television channel apologized on Wednesday (April 20th) after it mistakenly aired a series of alerts indicating that China had launched attacks on the island during the morning edition of its newspaper.
The Chinese media, based in Taipei, raised concern after issuing several alerts, including “New Taipei City Hit by Communist Army Guided Missiles” and “Vessels blew up, facilities and boats damaged in Taipei Port”.
CTS attributed the misunderstanding to staff, who mistakenly aired the content of fire drills the station had been commissioned to produce for New Taipei City firefighters. Some Internet users reacted with anger and contempt. There were, however, no signs of panic on the streets of Taipei on Wednesday morning.
The incident struck a chord at a time of fears in Taiwan that China will one day follow through on its threats to annex the Democratic Self-Governing Island, which it sees as part of its territory to be taken back by force. if necessary, are exacerbated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Beijing has intensified its pressure on Taiwan since President Tsai Ing-wen came to power in 2016, considering the island a sovereign country. Chinese intimidation has increased dramatically over the past year, with warplanes breaching Taiwan’s air defense zone on an almost daily basis.