Taiwan Accidentally Launches Missile

On July 1, Taiwan’s military launched a missile into the Taiwan Strait and hit a Taiwanese fishing boat about 100 kilometers offshore, killing the captain and injuring the three other crew members. 

According to Taiwanese authorities, the locally developed Hsiung Feng III anti-ship missile was accidently launched from a 500-ton Chinchiang-class corvette in Zuoying Military Harbor in Kaohsiung during a drill.

The accident occurred on the 95th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, so it caused a stir in online and offline communities on both sides of the Strait. Later that day, the mainland’s Taiwan Affairs Office openly questioned why Taiwan did not notify them of the incident. Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council said that it had asked the Straits Exchange Foundation, a semi-official Taiwanese organization responsible for cross-Strait communication, to notify its mainland counterpart of the misfire.

Taiwanese media reported that it took at least eight hours for Taiwanese authorities to notify the mainland of the incident, which analysts believe has left ample room for “misunderstandings and miscalculations.” Analysts worried that the accidental launch will further damage the cross-Strait relationship, which has remained strained since Taiwan’s new top leader, Tsai Ingwen, refused to officially recognize the One China doctrine preferred by Beijing as a basis for negotiations.