The Chinese Television System (CTS), Taiwan’s government-backed station, has issued an apology after mistakenly running ticker alerts about China striking targets near Taipei with missiles.
The warning appeared during a live news broadcast on Wednesday morning, with alerts reportedly indicating that a “war could break out,” as well as that Taiwan’s president, Tsai Ing-wen, had declared a state of emergency. According to local media, the viewers were also being informed about China’s missiles having hit warships and critical infrastructure in the vicinity of the capital, Taipei.
However, an anchor clarified during the 10am news bulletin that the alerts had in fact been meant for a drill involving the Fire Department in New Taipei City on Tuesday but had been accidentally displayed on Wednesday morning due to a technical error. She also called on citizens not to be “overly panicked,” and apologized for the mistake.
The false alerts, which had made it on air, did not cause mass panic in Taipei, according to Reuters.