A Taiwan government-backed television station apologized and urged people not to panic yesterday after mistakenly reporting a Chinese attack in Taipei, amid rising military tensions with Beijing.
During a live news broadcast yesterday 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, media reports said.
The alerts included messages such as "a war could break out," a major train station in Taipei being set on fire by "Chinese agents" and Taiwan's president declaring a state of emergency.
"Citizens, please don't be overly panicked. We hereby clarify the information and apologize," an anchor said in the network's news bulletin. She said the alerts were meant for a drill with the Fire Department in New Taipei City on Tuesday but were mistakenly displayed because of a technical error.
There were no signs of panic in Taipei after the accidental bulletins.
China has stepped up military activities in the past two years to press the island into accepting Beijing's sovereignty claims.
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 has prompted debate in Taiwan on ways to boost preparedness.
