Taiwan’s Defense Ministry mistranslates an alert, erroneously saying China launched a missile

By SIMINA MISTREANU
Associated Press

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan’s Defense Ministry has mistranslated an alert into English, saying China had launched a missile instead of a satellite and urging caution days before the island’s elections. Taiwan holds presidential and parliamentary elections on Saturday that China has described as a choice between war and peace. The bilingual alert sent to residents’ mobile phones cautioned in English that there was a missile flyover. The Defense Ministry later issued a statement apologizing for the faulty translation and clarifying that China had launched a rocket carrying a satellite, not a missile. Beijing views Taiwan as a renegade province that must come under its control. It has intensified its military harassment of Taiwan in recent months, sending military vessels and aircraft near it almost daily.