Update | Warning of ‘possible terrorist attack on China’ received by Taiwan days before Malaysia Airlines jet vanished

Taiwan's spy chief revealed yesterday that the island's security officials had last week received a warning about possible terrorist attacks on the mainland.

National Security Bureau chief Tsai De-sheng told a legislative committee that the agency had passed on a warning of planned attacks on Beijing airport and the city's subway system to mainland authorities after receiving it on March 4.

Tsai did not specify how the warning, which came three days after a knife attack at Kunming railway station left 29 civilians dead, had been relayed to the bureau.

However, security chiefs were believed to have received the alert from Taiwan-based China Airlines, following a phone call to the airline earlier in the day from a man who said he wanted to warn of possible terrorist activity.

Claiming to work for an anti-terrorism organisation in France, the caller spoke in French at first but switched to Putonghua with a Cantonese accent when the airline's switchboard operator could not understand him.

China Airlines yesterday confirmed that a call was received on March 4. It said the information it received was passed to Taiwan's civil aviation authority and aviation police.