BEIJING, January 10. /TASS/. The Taiwanese administration is deliberately sowing panic over the launch of a Chinese Long March 2C orbital launch vehicle with a satellite near the island, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Mao Ning said.

"What was the purpose of the [Taiwanese] Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in misleading the public and creating panic? I think it is clear to everyone," the Chinese diplomat said.

China launched the Einstein spacecraft on Tuesday at 3:03 p.m. local time (10:03 a.m. Moscow time) using a Long March 2C orbital launch vehicle from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center. Taiwan's armed forces issued an air alert after the rocket passed through the southern part of the island's airspace. Later, Taiwan's defense department also said the carrier rocket deviated from its predicted trajectory and could have posed a danger to people on the ground.

Taiwan has been governed by its own administration since 1949, when the remnants of the Kuomintang forces led by Chiang Kai-shek (1887-1975) fled there after their defeat in the Chinese Civil War. Since then, Taiwan has retained the flag and some other attributes of the former Republic of China that existed on the mainland before the Communists took power. Official Beijing considers Taiwan a province of the People’s Republic of China.