A false alarm over an air raid, balloons over Taiwan, a sex video.
With just days to go before the Taiwan polls on Jan 13, "election interference" became a buzzword as political parties accused one another of benefiting from shadowy ploys.
The main opposition Kuomintang (KMT) has accused the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) of trying to hype up the China threat with a misleading alert about a Chinese missile launch over Taiwan when it was actually a satellite launch.
On Jan 9, at 3.17pm, mobile phones across Taiwan buzzed with an emergency "air raid alert" from Ministry of Defence, in Chinese that China a satellite that crossed into the airspace over southern Taiwan.
Taiwan's warning launched But a line in English warned mistakenly about a missile: "Missile flyover Taiwan airspace, be aware." There was a repeat alert just minutes later. The Defence Ministry later apologised for the error.
KMT presidential candidate Hou Yu-ih told reporters on Jan 10 that the DPP should not use government machinery to meddle in the election and create fear in order to win votes.
This story is from the January 12, 2024 edition of The Straits Times.
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This story is from the January 12, 2024 edition of The Straits Times.
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