Earlier this week, Beijing cut off diplomatic ties with Taipei over Cambodia’s handing over to China fraud suspects who are Taiwanese. Is it by coincidence that Taipei fired by mistake a supersonic aircraft carrier killer missile by mistake toward China on Friday?
Japan Times reported that the Taiwan-made Hsiung-feng III (Brave Wind), which has a range of 300 kilometers, flew 75 kilometers before it plunged into waters off Penghu, an island group in the Taiwan Strait administered by Taipei. There are suggestions the misfiring of the missile by the Taiwan Navy was because of human error.
Vice Admiral Mei Chia-shu said that based on their investigation, the operation “was not done in accordance with normal procedure.” Fired from a 500-ton missile ship docked at Tsoying, a naval base, at around 8:10 a.m., the missile flew toward China which would likely spark speculations it could have something to do with the diplomatic impasse between China and Taiwan.
The Mainland Affairs Council of Taiwan did not disclose if the incident was reported to China, but Mei said Taiwan did not inform China because of the lack of communication between the two countries. According to NBC, the missile hit a Taiwanese fishing boat during the training exercise, killed the vessel’s captain and injured three others.
Although the missile’s range was up to 300 miles, it did not cross the median line at Taiwan Strait which separates Taiwan and China. The navy said those responsible for the accidental firing would be punished.
The incident happened when China was celebrating the 95th anniversary of the Communist Party.