Alert sent out after Chinese rocket diverged from expected path: MND

Taipei, Jan. 9 (CNA) The Ministry of National Defense (MND) on Tuesday said it decided to send out a nationwide alert message after a rocket carrying a satellite launched from China diverged from its anticipated flight path in the direction of Taiwan.

In a statement issued late Tuesday, the ministry said it detected the launch of a carrier rocket from Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan Province at around 3:03 p.m.

As the rocket passed over Chenzhou in China's Hunan Province, however, it began to diverge from the trajectory forecast by the United States' Federal Aviation Agency, which had anticipated that it would not travel over Taiwan, the ministry said.

Due to the divergence, and the risk of possible damage on the ground, the military's Air Force Combatant Command made the decision to send out a warning over the Public Warning System (PWS), the ministry said, adding that no political pressure was involved.

PWS messages sent out to people in Taiwan at 3:17 p.m. and 3:18 p.m. advised that a satellite launched from China had "already passed over southern Taiwan's airspace."

According to the MND, the Chinese rocket traveled over Taiwan in a line from Tainan in the west to Taitung in the east at a height of around 500 kilometers -- an altitude considered to be in outer space.

The ministry's updated explanation came amid questions as to why the warning was sent out at all.

In the case of previous Chinese launches on Nov. 9, Dec. 10 and Dec. 30, which passed over Taiwan's airspace or air defense identification zone in outer space, the ministry issued statements, but not PWS messages.

The MND was also forced to issue an apology over the English wording of the message, which mistakenly referred to the object as a "missile," rather than a "satellite," as it said in Chinese.

Tuesday's satellite launch came just four days before Taiwanese voters are scheduled to head to the polls to elect a new president and lawmakers in the Jan. 13 presidential and legislative elections.