A Taiwanese news channel inadvertently reported that China invaded the island nation yesterday, sparking a state probe into the blunder.
In the news Wednesday morning, which aired at 7 a.m. local time, Taiwan’s public broadcaster Chinese Television System (CTS) erroneously published a news crawl at the end of one of its segments that read: “The Chinese communists have stepped up their preparations for war.” ‘ and that President Tsai Ing-wen ‘issued an emergency order’.
“New Taipei City was hit by communist military rockets; the port of Taipei has exploded, facilities and ships have been damaged,” said a news ticker, according to CNN. “It is suspected that enemy agents set arson and explosives at the Banqiao railway station.”
One ticker reported war was “about to break out,” and another read, “Special agent suspects of setting fire to Banqiao station and planting explosives,” Taiwan News reported.
The network also reported false information about a magnitude 7 earthquake in New Taipei City.
A user on a popular online forum called PTT posted screenshots of the CTS newscast afterwards.
CTS issued an official apology later in the day, explaining that the news was part of the New Taipei City Government’s disaster response drills and was inadvertently televised during the morning news.
According to the statement, an employee had failed to assign the appropriate links in the system, but the news director “corrected” the error at “7 minutes and 49 seconds into the show”.
The Taiwanese government also conducted its own investigation into the seriousness of the incident, prompting unnecessary public panic.
Taiwan’s culture ministry issued an apology on Wednesday, pledging that the incident would be “thoroughly investigated” and “won’t be repeated.”
After the incident, seven CTS employees were reportedly held accountable for the failed news crawl, including two program directors and five editors and producers.
Chen Ya-ling (陳雅琳), the acting general manager of CTS, tendered her resignation via video conference during a board meeting yesterday. Her resignation was opposed by many board members, and Chen issued a public apology on the network’s evening news, declaring that she would “accept any reprimand.”
The false alarm comes amid Taiwan’s continued concerns about a possible attack from China following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Tensions have been rising in recent months between the two countries, which have long been embroiled in a heated dispute over China’s sovereignty over the island.
The story goes on
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