On Tuesday, China launched the Einstein Probe, a scientific satellite for researching high-energy astrophysics and astronomy. However, the satellite flew over Taiwan’s southern airspace, triggering a security alert in Taiwan.
Taiwan is an island nation sitting across the Taiwan Strait from mainland China. Beijing claims Taiwan as part of its territory, but Taiwan rejects the authority of mainland China. In recent years, China has stepped up grey-zone tactics against Taiwan, threatening and intimidating without outright declaring war.
In this instance, China had not declared its satellite launch beforehand, and the satellite’s trajectory flew over Taiwanese airspace. Because of the satellite’s “abnormal trajectory,” Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense issued the emergency alert to the entire island. However, a translation error included the English word “missile” in the alert, causing alarm across the island. The defense ministry apologized for the error and said they would conduct an internal review to ensure the mistake wasn’t repeated.
1. On 1503 hr today, the MND detected the Long March rocket launched by the PRC’s Xichang Satellite Launch Center entered and left our ADIZ after passing from Tainan to Taitung.
— 國防部 Ministry of National Defense, R.O.C. 🇹🇼 (@MoNDefense) January 9, 2024
This event is just the latest in a long string of rising tensions between China and Taiwan. China has not outright attacked the island nation, but it does claim Taiwan as part of its territory. Taiwan has been self-governing with democratic elections for decades, but China claims it wants to unify and pull the island nation under its wing.
On Saturday, January 13th, Taiwan will host its election, voting to elect the nation’s president and other leaders. These elections have become a crucial part of the island nation’s politics in recent decades, and large numbers of its citizens turn out to vote every election. Many Taiwanese officials say that in recent weeks, China has been stepping up its threats and harassment in response to these elections.
Aside from today’s surprise satellite launch, there have been other potential acts of Chinese harassment against Taiwan. These have included Chinese carrier rockets passing over Taiwan in December, and Chinese balloons passing over the Taiwan Strait and the island itself. These balloons are thought to be similar to the Chinese spy balloon that was shot down after flying across the US in 2023. There have also been complaints of Chinese fighter jets flying over the Taiwan strait in recent years in an apparent strategy to intimidate Taiwan into acquiescing to Chinese rule.
