Taiwanese authorities received information on a potential terrorist attack at the Beijing Capital International Airport on 4 March, just days before the disappearance of the Beijing-bound Malaysian Airlines flight MH370.
An anonymous caller had conveyed the information to Taiwan’s China Airlines, which passed on the recording and information relevant to the call to Taiwan’s government.
The caller said that he was a member of a French counterterrorism group, and noted that the group received information about an East Turkestan terrorist group planning to bomb the Beijing Capital International Airport.
East Turkestan is the proposed independent state sought by separatists in northwest Xinjiang province in China.
The Taiwanese government beefed up security on its flights to Beijing following the call.
Taiwan’s Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) and the Aviation Police Bureau both confirmed that they had received information on a terrorist attack, and added that the police were confirming the veracity of the call.
Taiwanese authorities believe that the information of the terrorist attack is unrelated to the disappearance of the Malaysian airlines flight, but are still investigating.
The search is on for the missing Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777-200ER aircraft, which disappeared with 227 passengers and 12 crew members on 8 March.
An ongoing joint search and rescue effort, focusing on the Gulf of Thailand, Straits of Malacca, and the South China Sea, is being conducted by co-operating agencies of numerous national governments.
Two passengers boarded the aircraft using stolen passports, but the authorities have noted that it is unlikely that the disappearance of the aircraft is linked to terrorism.
